REVIEW: Christmas Carol'd

Performance Network Theatre

From the New Monitor

A cool take on a classic tale

By Daniel Skora

The Performance Network Theatre of Ann Arbor is currently presenting Christmas Carol'd, subtitled A Cool Take on a Classic Tale, which pretty much sums up what they've done to the Charles Dickens holiday classic.

While mostly remaining faithful to the story as laid out by Dickens, Carol'd is a scaled down version that plays better in the intimate setting of the Performance Network's theater than a full-blown production of the show would. Even the cast is pared down: Five actors play all of the 30 or so parts in the show.

John Seibert is the lone actor given the luxury of concentrating on a single part in the play. His Scrooge is largely the classic one: self-reliant and overbearing until the spirits come calling, then, at times fearful, exuberant and melancholy as he watches the events of his life and the choices he has made play out before him. Seibert has the range, the poise and the passion to give life to the complex character of Scrooge, all too often appraised as being rather simplistic.

It's up to Terry Heck, B.J. Love, Chelsea Sadler and Kevin Young to serve as chorus (identified as carolers in the program) and flesh out all the rest of Dickens' creation: ghosts and spirits, Cratchits and Fezziwigs, ladies and Londoners and even the little boy with a crutch, Tiny Tim. If you suspect there's a lot of movement on, off and about the stage, you're correct. There's lots of story to tell and so little resources, so things move briskly.

Sometimes the actresses are pressed into service as males, sometimes the actors find it necessary to don bonnets and lace. But that only adds to the fun. This Carol has been injected with a good shot of comedy, amplifying the subtle humor that can be found in Dickens' version.

Costuming (by Monika Essen) is done in the classical Victorian-age style. Props (also by Essen, who also does set design) are kept to a functional minimum. One of the best is a nifty piece of latex rubber that transforms into the apparition of Marley's face in the doorknocker.

Playwright Joseph Zettelmaier's adaptation draws mainly from Dickens' published manuscript, using words directly spoken by the characters in the original Carol. He embellishes the dialogue by using descriptive passages from the book spoken as narration by the chorus. He's also written in moments of sprightly mischief, as happens early on when the chorus enters into a discussion over whether any other object can be perceived as being deader-than a doornail.

If the show has any major detriment, it's the bleak, minimalist set that the actors have to work against. The black backdrop is highlighted only by several outlines of building tops and two large timepieces. Granted that much of the Carol story is darkly colored, taking place during the nighttime hours as well. But it is, after all, a Christmas story, and there are many scenes that just ache for the color and gaiety of the holiday season, like Fezziwig's and Fred's parties, the celebrations of Christmas Present, and, especially, the Christmas morning of Scrooge's epiphany.

Much of the intensity is also missing from several of the most dramatic scenes in the show. When Ebenezer is directed to look upon the tombstone to see the name of the dead person that has been the subject of the previous scenes, the most effective way of presenting this is to have the audience see the name of Scrooge revealed at the same time that he sees it. It's the climactic moment of the story, the point where Ebenezer fully comes to understand the machinations of the three spirits and the impoverishment in his life up until then.

Here, Seibert merely looks down into a light that's coming up from below stage and proceeds to go about with his anguish. Also, the spirit of Christmas yet to come, the specter with the potential of being the most visually horrifying, is shown only as a ray of red light shining onto the stage.

Christmas Carol'd can best be enjoyed when viewed in the spirit in which it was created: a tight, compact, interpretation of the story with a bit of an edge added to it. The production is directed by David Wolber, with performances running through Dec. 27.

SHOW DETAILS:

For tickets and information, call the box office at 734-663-0691 or go online to www.performancenetwork.org. The theater is located at 120 East Huron Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

Reprinted with permission of the New Monitor, Dec. 3, 2009

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