Hartford Stage
www.hartfordstage.org
Bill Raymond as Ebenezer Scrooge
Photo by T. Charles Erickson
A Christmas Carol
A Ghost Story of Christmas
December 3 through December 30, 2009
The Classic Story by Charles Dickens
Adapted and Directed by Michael Wilson
For information, please call
Hartford Stage Box Office at 860-527-5151
Reviewed by Donna Bailey-Thompson
No wonder the Hartford Stage production of A Christmas Carol is a holiday
tradition: the ghost story is just spooky enough, especially with crackling
lightning splitting the night followed by thunder loud enough not only to
raise the shivers probability but embolden ghosts to bedevil those living
with guilty consciences. There's not a moment when something isn't
happening. Other-worldly creatures materialize out of a dark void to move
crazily on the stage; those with a surfeit of ectoplasm take flight, darting
and whooshing through the air.
The cast of almost 40, from experienced professionals to youngsters with
theater stars in their eyes, are intent upon giving audiences the special
entertainment they've come to see. They succeed.
The dark, malevolence of Dicken's miserly, mean-spirited Scrooge is
suggested but not ingested by the popular Bill Raymond's pixie-ish
interpretation. During the long Christmas Eve night, he becomes comically
tipsy drunk. "Shadows of things that have been" reveal Scrooge's rejection
by his father: "My father couldn't stand the sight of me." Just like defense
attorneys introduce mitigating circumstances to elicit jurors' sympathy,
snippets of Scrooge's past invites the audience's indulgence. His child-like
attachment to his bed and blankey prompt empathetic giggles.
Stagecraft at Hartford Stage is noted for combining imagination with
practicality. Rising from the almost round stage floor is a wooden structure
of stairs leading up to where Bob Cratchit toils as Scrooge's overworked,
underpaid clerk. At that upper level, a foot bridge spans across to the
opposite side where there are small platforms and stairs connecting to the
stage floor. A group of caroling young people stroll across the bridge. In
the distance is the London skyline dominated by the huge dome of St. Paul's
Cathedral. Lighting and special effects enhance the shifting moods. Sound is
big in this production. The costumes are exquisite - beautiful fabrics,
generously cut. The flavor of Victorian England is captured in gowns, suits,
and accessories, and the dramatic costumes - e.g., Christmas Present - are
richly stunning. Congratulations to Tony Straiges (Scenic Design), Zack
Brown (Costume Design), Robert Wierzel (Lighting Design), John Gromad (Sound
Design).
Michael Wilson's direction and adaptation of the Dickens' classic provides a
blend of the basic story with the energy of a bustling society. The
money-poor Cratchit family is love-rich, as projected by Bob Cratchit
(Robert Hannon Davis), the proud head of his family. The spurned
unconditional love Scrooges' nephew Fred (Michael Bakkensen) tries to give
to his uncle simply strengthens his resolve to continue loving the
contentious old man. In a version designed primarily for children,
introspection and the brutal ghostly confrontations are glossed over. Hence,
this widely popular A Christmas Carol is Scrooge Lite, a polished production
celebrating its twelfth year of enthusiastic audiences, many who return year
after year.
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© The Arts, etc., Copyright
2009, 2010
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