A novel retelling: TheatreSquared offers humorous take on holiday classic
Posted on Friday, November 16, 2007
It starts on the same day: Christmas Eve. It also features some of the familiar characters: Ebenezer Scrooge, the three ghosts of Christmas, even Mr. Fezziwig.
But make no mistake: The production being staged by TheatreSquared beginning Nov. 23 is not Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol."It is, rather," Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol,"an adaptation of the classic holiday tale told through the eyes of Jacob Marley.
The play, written about 10 years ago by Tom Mula, was inspired by and parallels "A Christmas Carol."In fact, it was Mula's role as Jacob Marley in a production of the original tale that inspired the show, said David Pickens, who will direct TheatreSquared's production.
"What if this were a play about my character?"Pickens said about the playwright's initial idea. "He must redeem Scrooge so he can be redeemed himself."
Marley's task is to help save Scrooge from the same fate he has suffered, one of chains and eternal suffering. It won't be easy, however. In the seven years since Marley's passing, Scrooge has only become more unpleasant and more greedy. One of Marley's lines in the play helps sum that up, Pickens said.
Marley says "Scrooge was the only person he knew that was worse than he was,"Pickens said.
Although details about Marley were sparse in Dickens' novel, the character emerges through Mula's tale of a man who is the greedy and self-interested partner of financial firm Marley & Scrooge. And when the ghost of Marley appears to Scrooge on Christmas Eve, the situation is told through the eyes of the deceased business partner.
In T2's production, Marley is played by Bryce Kemph, a University of Arkansas theater program graduate who now calls New York City home.
"He has great instincts, I think, and there's a natural curiosity and seems to be searching for something. I think that really helps in this role,"Pickens said of Kemph.
Marley is guided through the afterlife by The Bogle, an otherworldly sprite played by Rebecca Harris, who starred in T2's debut production," Bad Dates."
Rounding out the cast are Mark Landon Smith, a local playwright and the artistic director for youth acting group Arts Live Theatre, and UA grad John Thomas Smith, who will be making his first Fayetteville professional performance during this production.
The four cast members play a total of 14 characters, all without the use of fancy costuming or elaborate sets. This is accomplished through a dramatic style known as story theater, where the actors -- and nothing else -- are tantamount to the production. Don't expect stovepipe hats or tear-jerking scenes with the hapless Tiny Tim.
"It focuses on the storytelling without all of the distractions,"Pickens said. "If you like to watch actors work, then story theater is really great for you."
In the story theater format, the actors will often narrate pantomimed action that is taking place behind them. And despite the serious themes -- including greed, corruption, poverty and more -- the actors address, expect to laugh, Pickens said.
"The more awful they are, the funnier some of these lighter moments are,"Pickens said.
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