By Ross Brewster

Last updated 05:18, Friday, 28 November 2008

Theatre designer Martin Johns can be excused if he looks like he’s just seen a ghost. Actually he’s seen three of them! Martin is the man with the task of turning Keswick Theatre by the Lake’s festive season production of A Christmas Carol into a magical experience for thousands of theatregoers of all ages.Carlisle Green Room Club’s 2008 pantomime, Red Riding Hood, opens on Monday. Written by James Sparks and Michael Spencer it’s the epic journey of the original “Hoody in Red” (played by Mark Davidson), Grandma (Malcolm Dunn) and the Wolf (Lisa Moffat).

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James Spark and Michael Spencer, writers, directors and stars of Carlisle Green Room Club’s Red Riding Hood

There’s an element of deja vu about this Christmas’s big show at the Lakeside theatre because A Christmas Carol was the first ever festive production staged there just after it opened in 1999.

However Martin, the theatre’s acclaimed design expert, is determined that there will be nothing old hat or Scrooge-like about this latest production, which kicks off Theatre by the Lake’s tenth anniversary celebrations.

He said: “All you can do with such a well-known story is to be as imaginative and creative in your interpretation as possible and hope that audiences will enjoy that particular way of telling the story.

“Ten years is quite a long time away from the original production – I hope that my ideas have developed and changed over that time.”

Martin’s main memory of the 1999 show is that it had started to snow when audiences left the theatre at the end of the performance.

“That was truly magical,” he said. “And Judi Dench and Michael Williams attended the gala performance and chatted to all the company afterwards.

“It was the theatre’s very first Christmas show and no-one knew if Cumbrians would turn out to the theatre in the winter. But they did and A Christmas Carol remains one of our most popular Christmas shows ever.”

There will be more than 60 performances of A Christmas Carol over a seven week period starting this Saturday. For tickets visit www.theatrebythelake.co.uk or call 017687 74411.

As well as writing and directing the production, James and Michael play Rob and Nick, recently escaped convicts, roles perfect for people who “enjoy dressing up, putting on ridiculous voices and making complete idiots of themselves in the name of entertainment.”

Red Riding Hood runs at West Walls Theatre until Saturday, December 13 (except December 4 and December 11).

Tickets £7/£6, from Carlisle TIC. Call 01228 625600.