TITG’s A Christmas Carol – Santa Delivers a Mixed Bag

Michael Colvin and Chandano Fuller

By Tina Arth

For this year’s holiday season Theatre in the Grove is presenting a relatively new adaptation of Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol by playwright John Mortimer. This version, first performed in 1994 by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, is essentially faithful to the original story (and the host of subsequent stage and film versions). However, it is a very distinctive approach – and the changes make it especially challenging to stage effectively in a community theater setting, where limited human and technological resources can be a handicap. Director Jeananne Kelsey’s valiant effort to reproduce both Dickens’ and Mortimer’s vision is neither an unqualified success nor an abject failure – some things work very, very well and others seem a bit forced or awkward.

The principal difference I perceived between this and other adaptations I have seen is the attempt to tell a lot of the story through the eyes of the people of London. A great deal of the action takes place in London street scenes, and much of the story is told by using the large cast as group narrators, each delivering short sequential bursts of exposition. The approach makes it clear that the story’s poverty and greed is not endemic to a particular time, place, and people, but a problem perpetrated by and victimizing all; this makes more possible the connection that the story’s moral is not limited to 19^th century London, and can be applied just as easily to our current political and economic systems.

So – what works, and what doesn’t? The first thing the audience sees is the set, and Zachary Centers’ design is superb. He and his carpenters manage with paint and plywood to recreate the look of a street of Victorian row houses, including the varying textures and styles of the era and locale. The use of large folding doors and windows, combined with props on wheels, allows the scene to shift fluidly from indoor to outdoor settings. Just opening the huge second-story windows into the second story brings the audience directly into Scrooge’s bedchamber and allows critical features like his crimson bed-curtains to assume their proper prominence. The scene where we are able to watch Scrooge disrobe and dress behind a translucent screen is one of the most effective in the whole show, and it is made possible by this clever set element. Another effective choice is the casting of Tanner Morton as both Bob Cratchit and Young Scrooge. Morton manages both parts nicely, but is easily recognized as being the same actor, which really enhances the fundamental relationship between two seemingly very different men.  

While the role is not huge, Lura Longmire does a nice job of capturing Mrs. Cratchit’s anger toward Mr. Scrooge and her tenderness toward her family, and Zach Centers totally nails the goodness and optimism of Scrooge’s nephew, Fred. Many of the best moments are those involving the children in the cast – their irresistible cuteness softens the edges of practically every scene, and if space allowed I would rhapsodize about each of them. Special props to Izzy Swendig as Tiny Tim. Tim is often played so melodramatically that A Christmas Carol starts to feel like “The Tiny Tim Show,” but Swendig shows restraint, allowing us to perceive that illness and poverty are by no means limited to members of the Cratchit family. Little Emma Klingler also demands recognition for her three roles as a small Cratchit, Fan, and the haunting Want.  Finally, all three ghosts (Wendy Bax, Ron Hansen, and Michael Feuerbach) are fun – the audience clearly loved seeing their friends done up in over-the-top costumes, exuding spectral excess.

What doesn’t work quite so well? First, the multiple narrators are a problem, given the cast.  The 100% professional cast of the Royal Shakespeare Company may be able to pull off the choppy narrative structure of these segments, but the TITG actors are not all up to this challenge. Thus, some lines were lost from failure to project, garbled accents, and the absence of the split-second timing necessary to carry it off. Another problem area is Michael Colvin’s generally effective, but sometimes rocky, performance as Mr. Scrooge. Colvin has the affect, the attitude, the look, even the walk – but when I saw the show, he appeared to occasionally forget his lines, which led to some awkward pauses and to other actors filling in or trying to give him appropriate cues.

Should you go? Yes, but with the understanding that this is not the traditional A Christmas Carol you might expect. Had I boned up on the Mortimer version in advance, or had the program included a director’s note that explained why it was structured the way it was, I would have had a much better experience. It’s probably much too late for that director’s note, but there’s plenty of time to do a Google search and read up on the show ahead of time. The production retains the essence and importance of Dickens’ themes – may it always be part of our Christmas story!

A Christmas Carol is playing at Theatre in the Grove, 2028 Pacific Avenue, Forest Grove through December 22 with performances Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.