Monday's Internet Edition, September 08, 2008.
If a 'Scrooge' can be truly redeemed, so might we be
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At the High Point Theatre, 220 E. Commerce Ave. in High Point: • Dec. 9: 8 p.m. • Dec. 10: 8 p.m. • Dec. 11: 2 p.m. • Dec. 13: 7:30 p.m. At the Stevens Center, 405 W. Fourth St. in Winston-Salem: • Dec. 16: 8 p.m. • Dec. 17: 2 p.m., 8 p.m. • Dec. 18: 2 p.m. Ticket Information Tickets are $23-$29. Tickets for senior citizens or students are $19-$21. For first-timers, teachers and students (specific performances), cost is $8. Tickets are available by calling 887-3001; at the theatre box office between noon and 5 p.m. on weekdays, and at www.highpointtheatre.com. |
Sports Editor
- “…and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.”
-- from Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’
Other entries in the Dickens canon – “Oliver Twist,” “A Tale of Two Cities” – might be as time-tested as his most famous Christmas story, but without much question, none is as fondly remembered.
“A Christmas Carol” has long since become part of our collective consciousness, and for good reason; the story – mixing the spiritual and the supernatural, offering a glimmer of hope to even the most lost of souls – immediately struck a chord with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic upon its initial appearance in 1843. In the plainest of terms, “A Christmas Carol” created images that both defined and transcended existing touchstones of the Yuletide season: good food and drink, merrymaking and Christmas cheer. The need to care for the less fortunate among us, in the sense of “there but for the grace of God go you or I.” The implied lesson that all actions have consequences, including those actions of neglect; the necessity of confronting the dark side of our own natures before finding true redemption.
Doing its part to keep “A Christmas Carol” alive for modern audiences, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival is currently in the midst of its 28th annual production of Dickens’s famous story. Directed by Pedro Silva and starring Allan Edwards as Ebenezer Scrooge, the production will include five more performances at the High Point Theatre on Commerce Street in High Point (Dec. 8-11, Dec. 13) and conclude with a three-night run at the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem (Dec. 16-18).
The N.C. Shakespeare Festival has presented “A Christmas Carol” each year since 1977, with the play becoming something of a local tradition over the years. Audiences typically include large numbers of students in addition to the general public, with special rates offered for students and teachers as well. Senior and group rates are also available.
At the center of the play is Scrooge, played here in convincing fashion by Allan Edwards (see review).
The story of the miserly old man visited by three spirits and convinced to change his ways is well known (indeed, the word “scrooge” has itself entered the English language to describe a stingy or mean-spirited person), but has lost none of its force over the years; as we watch Scrooge’s life being reviewed and found wanting, we inevitably review the shortcomings in our own lives – and take comfort in the notion that if a Scrooge can be redeemed, so might we be as well.
“We revel in Dickens’ tale each Christmas season because it touches the very core of our human being,” Silva writes in official director’s notes accompanying the production. “Young or old, we relish Scrooge’s transformation. Like the London fog that pours through every chink and keyhole on Dickens’ Christmas Eve, the experience of Scrooge enters through our pores and fills us with the potential that we, too, may be transformed – saved and re-born – and become more loving, giving and understanding.”
Dickens’ 1843 novel adapted itself easily to the stage (the author himself often read an abbreviated version of the story on his many speaking tours during the height of his fame), and has been filmed at least eight times, with Brian Hurst’s 1951 British version generally considered the definitive edition.
Given the N.C. Shakespeare Festival’s long experience with the material, the 28th production is, as one might expect, disciplined and professional; with original music by David Bishop and smart musical direction from Pauline Cobrda, “A Christmas Carol” is a holiday classic with ample flair and a heart to match. The fact that the audience knows what’s coming in no way interferes with the tale’s emotional wallop; it’s a rousing show with a conscience, a dramatic triumph and a fine way to ring in the holidays.
Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” adapted for the stage by Louis Rackoff and directed by Pedro Silva, runs approximately 118 minutes, including a 10-minute intermission.
(Dec. 6)