“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”: Performances are underway for “A Christmas Carol.” Adapted and directed by Lauren Keating, the play with music runs through December 28 at McCarter’s Matthews Theatre. Above, from left: The Ghost of Christmas Present (Royer Bockus) visits Ebenezer Scrooge (Cameron Knight). (Photo by Daniel Rader)
By Donald H. Sanborn III
McCarter Theatre’s beloved annual presentation of A Christmas Carol returns for its 45th production. Working from her adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella, Lauren Keating again directs (assisted by Zoe Maroko) a uniformly talented cast and creative team, many of whom return from previous years. Now in its fourth year, Keating’s iteration skillfully juxtaposes the story’s darker elements against the festive pageantry of caroling and dancing.
The opportunity to rewatch Keating’s adaptation allows one to appreciate a thematic emphasis she brings to the story: the importance of the influences we choose — and consequently, the influence we have on others. Keating also intersperses the action with the ensemble’s singing of carols to considerable effect; early in the show the carolers often pause their singing, giving the unsettling sense of the holiday spirit being disrupted, as though another, less benign spirit is at work.
Having portrayed the generous Mr. Fezziwig last year, Cameron Knight returns to star as the Christmas-hating miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Knight shines in the role, delivering a poignant performance that conveys grief erupting into bitterness.
The concept of joy giving way to darker feelings can be heard in some of Composer and Sound Designer Palmer Hefferan’s music. Melodies (mostly of carols) that sound joyous early in the show are adapted to sound eerie and somber when Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
In an interview featured in the November 26 issue of Town Topics, Knight explains that he starts “from a place of defending Scrooge’s point of view, so I’m not playing an archetypal evil guy, but unpacking why he is the way he is. I think there’s something very relatable about him.”
Knight puts this into practice by lacing almost all of his line delivery with an underlying hint of acute sadness. We immediately know that this is a character who has suffered loss (obviously we learn that much of it is due to poor choices he makes).
However, Knight uses body language to ensure that the character remains an antagonist in his early scenes. He lets Scrooge stalk other characters in a threatening manner; the performance makes clear that the pain in the miser’s life does not diminish the fact that he is a bully.
We especially see this in Scrooge’s treatment of his overworked clerk, the earnest and affable Bob Cratchit (Carlos L. Encinias); and to his nephew Fred (played by Ian Coulter-Buford, whose smooth, exuberant body language captures the character’s unabashed joyfulness) and Fred’s wife, Caroline (Lisa Helmi Johanson).
Keating embellishes the story by altering a few characters, and developing connections between some of them. This is particularly visible in a warm, heartfelt encounter between Scrooge’s long-suffering housekeeper, Mrs. Dilber (Elizabeth Reese) and the generous Old Jo (Gina Daniels). The latter character is conspicuously kinder than her counterpart in the novella, the more sinister pawnbroker Old Joe.
Grayson DeJesus returns as Marley, having played the role last year, and brings a restless intensity. Marley’s segment has some of Hefferan’s eeriest sound design, as well as some fine visual effects. There is a nice motif of dry ice accompanying only the spookiest scenes.
Sophia Alawi (who also plays Solicitor Cate, one of two philanthropists who visit Scrooge seeking a donation for the poor) is a memorable Ghost of Christmas Past, making the character simultaneously impish, authoritative, and a bit stern.
Skarlett Rose Willis, a member of the consistently talented Youth Ensemble, is heartwarming as Scrooge’s sister, Fan. A scene in which Fan gives Scrooge a music box — which she says will allow her brother to have Christmas any time he wants it — is a moving one thanks to Willis, and to Zayda Knowles as Young Scrooge (Knowles doubles as the incredulous Turkey Kid in the final scene).
In one of many interesting examples of multi-casting, Coulter-Buford portrays Scrooge’s father, as well as Ebeneezer as a young man. Coulter-Buford successfully conveys the younger Ebeneezer’s journey from youthfully hopeful, kind, and in love with Belle (Maria Habeeb, who also plays Solicitor Mary) to miserly, as Scrooge lets himself become absorbed in the bitterness of his father, as well as the coldly ambitious greed of the younger Marley.
The voices of the ensemble blend well together for the singing of carols (in part a credit to Music Director Cris Frisco). Emily Maltby’s festive choreography is a highlight of the scene that depicts the party given by Mr. Fezziwig (a warmly paternal Jamyl Dobson, who — in the most ironic bit of dual casting — also plays the somber Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come).
A sequence in which two dances by the ensemble bookend an expressive dance between Scrooge and Belle, in which they are visibly in a world of their own despite being surrounded by people, remains an impressive bit of artistry.
Paul M. Kilsdonk’s lighting is most striking in between the first two Ghosts, as Scrooge remembers the voices of characters who have shaped his life, and sees them in silhouette.
Daniel Ostling’s set and Linda Cho’s costumes (with hair, wig, and make-up design by Carissa Thorlakson) — which are consistently attractive and eye-filling — arguably are most interesting during the second Ghost’s segment. The set becomes a juxtaposition of a snow globe-like, snowy background, against the comparative realism of the homes of Bob and Fred. Scrooge’s subdued outfit, mostly consisting of dark colors, is a striking contrast to the dress worn by the Ghost of Christmas Present, which unsubtly evokes a Christmas tree.
As the Ghost of Christmas Present, Royer Bockus (who doubles as Mrs. Fezziwig) gives a performance that nicely dovetails with that of Alawi. The second Ghost is flamboyantly festive but brusquely no-nonsense.
Keating’s choice of casting female actors as both of the first two Ghosts is an interesting one, given that the loss of women in Scrooge’s life (Fan to death, Belle to the end of their engagement) has made him who he is to a high degree. The youthful Ghost of Christmas Past can be seen as an extension of Fan, while the Ghost of Christmas Present might be a reflection of Belle and Caroline.
The adaptation’s two-act structure is a bit of a double-edged blade. Filling the second act with both of the last two Ghosts’ entire chapters, as well as the final scene, causes certain segments to feel a bit rushed.
Christmas Present’s opening speech to Scrooge sounds slightly like a non-sequitur because it is not in response to a line of dialogue. Even the cemetery sequence feels somewhat perfunctory, though Knight’s delivery of Scrooge’s speech in that scene is compelling, and makes the character’s evolution convincing.
That said, Keating adds a nice parallel structure to the final two Ghosts’ segments, which are effectively illustrated by the staging. In each, Scrooge gets to witness conversations held by two distinct groups, which occupy opposite ends of the stage. Margaret moving beyond the boundaries of the Cratchit home when she mentions wishing she could give Scrooge her opinion of him is a nice touch.
Vivia Font brings the right mixture of authority and maternal warmth to the role of Margaret Cratchit. The Youth Ensemble members portraying the Cratchit children — Martha (Mikayla Irene), Belinda (Rafaella Mousa), Peter (Ishaan Sebastian), and Tiny Tim (Caryna Desai Shah) — never fail to charm.
Youth Ensemble members Atticus Kragseth and Evie Moore are sufficiently eerie as, respectively, Ignorance and Want. The cast is ably rounded out by Alex Brightwell (Carol the Caroler, among other characters); Kelsey Burns (Ensemble); and Youth Ensemble member Stella Malone (a Caroler).
Ultimately, McCarter’s A Christmas Carol remains a festive treat for the holidays, and is to be warmly recommended for both first-time and repeat viewings. Like the music box given to Scrooge by Fan, it brings Christmas to life, reminding us — even in the darkest of circumstances — to choose to seek and evince joy.
“A Christmas Carol” will play at McCarter’s Matthews Theatre, 91 University Place in Princeton, through December 28. For tickets, show times, and further information call (609) 258-2787 or visit mccarter.org.