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Peer Reviews This “Christmas
Carol” Rings Just a Little Flat Entire contents are copyright © 2007, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.
There are some stories that are so timeless they can be retold and reinterpreted to infinity and beyond. Dracula. Hamlet. Romeo and Juliet. Oliver Twist. The list goes on and on; they are stories that are so embedded into our social consciousness that we watch them over and over in their various incarnations and interpretations, always knowing how they will end and how the characters' journeys will go. There is probably no other single work of literature that this is more true of than Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
Let me go on record right here and state that A Christmas Carol is just about my favorite piece of classic literature. Something about the plight of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his redemption by four ghosts who may or may not be figments of his imagination has always captivated me; and, considering it is the most frequently adapted story in the history of film and television, I am hardly alone in that opinion. A quick check of the Internet Movie Database revealed there are more than 65 film and television adaptations of the story, the role of Scrooge played by everyone from Alistair Sim to Michael Caine, from Mister Magoo to Tori Spelling! So it was surprising the lack of enthusiasm I received when I tried to get someone to accompany me to see Actors Theatre's latest production, their 32nd rendering of the classic play. One friend flat-out told me, "Oh, God, I am SO sick of that story!" Another responded, "I've not been feeling well, can I take a rain check?" A third informed me, "Tonight's the night my family is having Thanksgiving." Finally, a fourth acquaintance accepted the invitation but never showed up at the theatre! Could it be that after all these years the tale is finally becoming stale? I refuse to believe it! Still, my excitement was unabated. This was my first time seeing the Actors Theatre production, and I couldn't wait. Maybe I built up my expectations too much, however, because the play sadly turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. I think my dissatisfaction with the production lies mainly with playwright Barbara Field's adaptation. Dickens' prose in this story is just lovely to listen to, so I appreciate Field's attempt to incorporate it into the play. But her means of doing so was to have the characters recite narration along with their lines, and they did this so often it kept taking me out of the play. Paul Owen's scenic design was very impressive, creating a street setting right out of Dickensian London. Unfortunately, Deb Sullivan's lighting effects were not as successful; they seemed to come out of a magic show or an amusement park ride, and just didn't seem natural at all. The performers, however, were first rate. William McNulty's Scrooge is the perfect curmudgeon, and you can sense the pain hidden beneath his miserly surface. David Hanbury, last seen headlining Hedwig and the Angry Inch, is again larger than life here, portraying a surprisingly fey Marley's Ghost. Mark J. Stringham provides a hilariously frightened-mouse portrayal of Bob Cratchit, and Sarah Nealis is lovely as Belle. Of the main cast, only Max Gordon Moore comes off badly; his portrayal of Scrooge's nephew Fred is bewilderingly hostile. Still, criticisms aside, the power of Dickens' story comes through, and the show is heartwarming and entertaining. You could do much worse than to pack up the kids and take them out for an evening of theatre with ATL's A Christmas Carol.
A Christmas Carol Actors Theatre of Louisville Posted Nov. 25, 2007
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