A Christmas Carol

Remaining surprisingly faithful to A Christmas Carol, Dickens’s tale of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, whose visit by a ghost and the spirits of Christmases past, present, and future showed him what had made him a lonely pariah, Shake & Stir has nonetheless made imaginative use of technology in the novella’s adaptation to the stage — most notably in effortlessly and rapidly recombining various sections of the grandly designed sets.  A combination of Dickens’s literary genius, careful adaptation, and controlled acting has given us dialogue that, whilst sounding authentic for the time, doesn’t sound dated, and interactions that ring of the power imbalances we find everywhere.

With just eight actors and a skilled fiddler, taking the stage, the streets of nineteenth-century London seem filled with a variety of believable characters, many of them showing amusing reactions to Scrooge’s intractable meanness of spirit.  For much of the play, Eugene Gilfedder dominates over one and all as Ebenezer Scrooge; yet even his character is dwarfed by the three Christmas spirits in outstanding feats of costuming, lighting, and lifelike projection.

This is a fast-moving play, and the speed with which much of the dialogue is uttered can make some characters with the broadest accents difficult to make out from farther back in the auditorium, especially at times when music is playing over their lines.  But this didn’t lead the play’s momentum to falter at all, and the liveliness of the production, the exacting timing of actions in certain scenes, the charming carolling with which the show commences, masterful lighting, and the many very special effects make the play a winner for young and old alike.  Even the production’s programme is a work of art.

Every character appearing in the play is distinct in manner and appearance, the more so due to great costuming, but certain characters besides Scrooge’s stand out as memorable in Shake & Stir’s production: notably those of Scrooge’s surprisingly lively dead partner, Marley, and a very Scottish Spirit of Christmas Present, whose humour at Scrooge’s expense we can all delight in.  And the humour at Scrooge’s expense continues even once Scrooge has turned over a holly leaf.

Its message of conviviality infused with humour and magic, Shake & Stir’s A Christmas Carol provides a delightful transition from the workaday world of expectations to the inner world of Christmas wishes.

John P. Harvey

Photographer: John P. Harvey.