"Marley was dead...to begin with," the opening line of Dickens' most famous tale of two cities (London real and London imagined) is also the opening line of Dickens’ most theatrical of stories. It is entirely fitting, therefore, that the story itself is told by Mr. Dickens in the adaptation on stage at the Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Unicorn Theater. In this adaptation by director/actor Eric Hill the tale is begun and ended by the narrative voice of the author. Inbetween, the story is both acted and mimed by the large cast as Dickens leads us, lovingly and for his own particular enjoyment, through the classic yarn.
Scrooge is a nasty old man. He likes no one and no one, except his nephew and his sole employee, thinks much of him. In spite of his despicable treatment of them nephew Fred and Bob Cratchitt cannot prevent themselves from toasting him, treating him like a person of interest, even praising him. In the end, it turns out, they were right to have faith in this despicable old skinflint because he’s really a nice guy who has buried himself inside the facade of meanness until even he believes himself to be unlovable and unloving. What saves Scrooge from a horrible fate in the afterlife is the intervention of three spirits sent by his long-dead ex-partner Jacob Marley who unfortunately had no one to intervene for him.
On a beautiful, musical comedy style set designed by Carl Sprague, bedecked in the elegant and richly prepared costumes designed by Jessica Risser-Milne, lit to a moody perfection by Matthew E. Adelson, director Eric Hill has moved his large cast of twenty-seven actors playing forty-one roles expertly. The stage is always in motion it seems, providing a sense of the pre-Victorian metropolis that is the center of the play. London is the villain, it seems, over-crowded, unfeeling, unseeing in many ways. London ignores the gifts implied in the youthful Ebenezer Scrooge’s lust for life. The city’s responsibility to nurture is left unexplored and Scrooge’s lust turns from humanity to gold at humanity’s expense. Few in the surge of mankind pay much attention to Ebenezer’s twisted sensibilities until it is too late for him to turn back. And the city on stage continues to bustle and hustle and move.
That fluidity is distracting. It sometimes replaces character development in this presentation. An actor with great potential, Robert Serrell, plays Cratchitt in a distracted and off-hand manner making him less sympathetic than he might otherwise become. Lindsey McWhorter as Cratchitt’s wife makes a much stronger impression, though not necessarily a fine one, in her stilted presentation of the woman, but still it is a more sympathetic one in spite of her curious vocal phrasings. Andrew Belcher as Fred, the boisterous nephew, is a much finer characterization. E. Gray Simons III is an equally boisterous Fezziwig, Scrooge’s first major influence and employer.
Matthew Crider makes a fine Jacob Marley. He is both terrifying and sympathetic in his seemingly reduced portrayal. As Old Joe, the pawnbroker, he does an equally excellent job. Youngsters Rider Staunton as Ignorance and Hallie Novak as Want make a major impression.
The three ghosts are fascinating. Ramona L. Alexander is superb as Christmas Past, both beautiful and surreal as she motions, beckons, moves and alerts Scrooge to his own history. Travis G. Daly makes Christmas Future into a looming presence with haunting hands. Anthony Mark Stockard, in a very reduced role as Christmas Present, is right on target and could have used a few additional minutes to great effect.
The two men who hold center stage in this edition of the novella-on-stage are Hill himself as Ebenezer Scrooge and Joshua Davis as Charles Dickens, storyteller and actor (two roles the man himself played throughout his lengthy 19th century career). Davis is only slightly short of brilliant. He handles straightforward narration with class and style, poise and perception. He knows where and how to emphasize a word to make a point. His economy of movement and gesture is picture perfect for the period portrayed on stage. He could, frankly, tell the tale from start to finish and probably captivate an audience.
At the other end of the spectrum is Hill’s understated Scrooge. He is more hateful, in part, for his reticence to temperament in Hill’s interpretation, than many have been in their obvious and deep-seated anger. Hill takes the most oft-quoted line "Bah. Humbug!" and gives it new resonance as these words escape his Scrooge rather than form him. His attitudes, both physical and vocal, are unique. He shows us right from the beginning that there is a man under the facade of monster. His reclamation, his redemption, seems inevitable here and not the challenge that others have made it. While I liked this version, I wasn’t completely taken in by it. I admit I prefer my Scrooge hard as nails and Hill’s is much more a picture-wire Scrooge, malleable and twisted.
In the one hour and twenty five minute production(including intermission) Hill and company please an audience of all ages with this lovely and loving production of A Christmas Carol. You don’t have to be a lover of theater or of this story to have a wonderful time. You just have to sit there and let London and its people surge around you and take you into the center of its life. That’s the message of this show - let yourself go into the center and enjoy yourself.
