Reviewed by James Karas
HUMBUG!
No, really. The Shaw Festival has a Holiday Season in November/December
with two productions: Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and
Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn.
You know all about A
Christmas Carol, right? The
ghost story about Christmas was published in 1843 and I am not aware of any
other work of fiction that has established such a dominant place in the Western
imagination. It created such an image of a major Christian holiday as the story
of Scrooge that is almost as astounding as the transformation of the skinflint.
The Shaw Festival’s version is an adaptation by its Artistic Director
Tim Carroll who directed the original production. This year’s staging is
directed by Molly Atkinson and the result is a delight.
The adaptation is faithful to the story but there are a number of Christmas
carols sung at the beginning, the end and during the 90-minute performance. The
production uses puppets and shadow theatre, and is done on a simple set
requiring almost no props except imagination.
The performance begins on a bare stage with a painted backdrop showing an
advent calendar with a church, some buildings and chimneys. Bob Cratchit
(Andrew Lawrie) holds a small board and swings to the right and left to “open”
and “close” the door to Scrooge’s business establishment. Another actor places
a small board on her head and becomes Scrooge’s desk.
The major prop is a four-poster canopy bed which is highly moveable and
has curtains that close it off. It will serve as Scrooge’s bed and proves useful
throughout.
The ghost of Marley and the three Spirits are imaginatively constructed
and very entertaining. Marley’s ghost is an over-sized, headless man with a hat
perched above his shoulders. “He” is operated by a couple of actors from inside
his clothes and they speak in unison.
The spirit of Christmas past is a delightful Sarena Parmar. The spirit
of Christmas Present is a scary man on roller blades (Sanjay Talwar). The
spirit of Christmas Future is a frightful creature with eyes bulging under a
large sheet scaring the hell of Scrooge. By this time we are ready to be reformed.
A Christmas Carol (2017). Photo by David Cooper.
There is liberal use of puppets from Tiny Tim to Scrooge in one of the
scenes. There is also a shadow theatre to show us Scrooge’s happy childhood
Christmas. There are some ingenious scenes such as having Scrooge’s nephew Fred
(Peter Fernandes) and his wife Emily (P J Prudat) wear hats with drinks on top.
Michael Therriault as Scrooge heads the fine cast of ten actors. Patty
Jameson plays Mrs. Dilber, Marla McLean plays Mrs. Cratchit and is responsible
for movement and is the Puppetry Captain. The cast takes on roles as they are
needed and in the end give us a worthy retelling of a marvelous story that has
made its mark on western civilization.
The production is colourful, well-paced, enjoyable and perfect for the
season.
Merry Christmas.
__________
A Christmas
Carol by Charles Dickens,
adapted by Tim Carroll continues until December 22, 2019 at the Royal George
Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. www.shawfest.com/
James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press
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