An obvious choice for this season, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is perhaps more suitable than ever for 2020. As Scrooge’s condition might be described as social isolation, he is rarely close to another person; with the exception of the Cratchits’ goose dinner, almost every scene is for two characters; and the ghosts of past, present and future appear separately, making doubling easy.

As a result, a trio – Simon Russell Beale (inset), Patsy Ferran, and Eben Figueiredo – can plausibly, with the help of some puppets, play all the parts in Nicholas Hytner’s version at the Bridge Theatre (until 16 January 2021). And that show is itself part of a London threesome. A Christmas Carol – The Musical Staged Concert, a sing-through of Alan Menken’s and Mike Ockrent’s 1994 Broadway hit, is at the Dominion Theatre (until 2 January 2021), and at the Old Vic Andrew Lincoln is Scrooge in Jack Thorne’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol (until 24 December), which has become a December regular at that venue.