Daniel Gerroll (Ebenezer Scrooge) in the Guthrie Theater production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens, adapted by Crispin Whittell. 2010 © Michal Daniel
The Guthrie Theater has faithfully delivered on our secret holiday wish: a fresh, new version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this one adapted by Crispin Whittell and directed by Artistic Director Joe Dowling. This script has a decidedly lighter and more contemporary slant, in terms of sensibilities, but the brightly rendered, familiar characters are all there. In fact, Whittell has made quite a lot out of lesser known – or even non-existent – characters in the original. Rather than pull us away from the story’s moral center, this approach makes Dickens’ point seem all the more universal and timely.
For example, if there is a Merriweather in the book, I don’t remember her, but Scrooge’s housekeeper is a memorable character indeed in this production – surly, drunken and every bit Scrooge’s match for bad attitude. It works so well in part because Angela Timberman is so good. The danger in giving Scrooge a partner, as it were, is also what’s so intriguing; she all but steals the show, even siphoning much of the energy in Scrooge’s revelatory moment on Christmas morning. It’s not her fault. That’s the way it was written.
Daniel Gerroll as Scrooge is not the ancient, almost gargoyle-like presence as he’s sometimes depicted. This Scrooge stands tall in his top hat, spitting out caustic pronouncements with little effort. Gerroll shows wonderful range and color in his characterizations; he did all the right things, although not always at precisely the right time.
But about the ghosts, which is what everyone wants to know. They fly. They are also remarkably dissimilar and particular characterizations – enchanting, charming and disquieting, in that order. Oh, and did I mention that they fly? All of them. Remind your kids that this is live theater and mechanics are required, so they have the fun of catching how it’s done and still marvel at the apparitions floating overhead. What this play may lack on the story’s serious side, it more than makes up for in sheer spectacle.
A large cast (many playing multiple roles) fills out the stage with dancing and singing, a spectacle that’s housed in Walt Spangler’s marvelous set and brilliantly lit by Christopher Akerlind, who knew just how to max out an effect without making the show about the lighting.
While Whittell created a new perspective in which the story lived, and he has a wonderful ear for sassy, well-placed jokes, he succumbed at a couple of key moments to more explaining than we needed. One was the conversation between Scrooge and Marley’s Ghost; the other was the scene when Belle broke up with Scrooge as a young man. In both cases, we were pulled out of the moment and into that twilight between the world of the play and the fact that we’re sitting in a theater seat. In another curious move, the script suddenly switched to direct address in the final tableau after being without a narrator for the duration. We know how it ends, of course, and the surprise treatments had been accomplished, so it worked in a way, but it seemed a little odd.
But no matter. There are a few timeless shows that are just meant to be enjoyed again and again, in all their renderings. This would be one of them, and it is pure delight.
A Christmas Carol runs through December 30.