A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens, adapted and directed by Michael Shamata (Soulpepper, 55 Mill). To December 30, various times. $29-$70, some student and rush tickets. 416-866-8666, soulpepper.ca. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Sometimes we forget that Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is a ghost story, but that sense of moodiness infuses director Michael Shamata’s fine adaptation of the story.
It’s always a holiday treat when Soulpepper remounts the show, first presented by the company in 2001.
A Christmas Carol remains a moving piece of theatre, devoid of syrupy moralizing, not least because of the strength of Joseph Ziegler’s Scrooge. Ziegler’s subtle performance shows us not just the character’s crustiness but also the damaged heart beneath it.
Staged in the round, which gives a wonderful sense of connection between actors and audience, the production underlines a few themes that film versions, including the 1951 one with Alistair Sim, skip over. In Shamata’s version, it’s being starved of affection and the difficulty of accepting it when it’s finally offered that stunts Ebenezer Scrooge, from his early school days through his affair with Belle when Scrooge ends their relationship, he sets his course toward emotional isolation.
Shamata keeps the tones of the production intentionally dark, with John Ferguson’s design emphasizing muted tones and Alan Brodie’s atmospheric lighting giving a rich, noirish texture to the show.
Julie Fox’s fanciful costumes for the quartet of ghosts – all played by the excellent John Jarvis, who makes each a distinct figure – stand out for their otherworldly quality, their tones matching the starkness of much of the tale.
There’s a wealth of talent onstage, including Oliver Dennis’s warm Bob Cratchit, Deborah Drakeford as his put-upon wife, Maggie Huculak as a housekeeper who glides with the silence of haunted creature, Kevin Bundy as the jovial Fezziwig and Matthew Edison as both the young Ebenezer and his nephew Fred.
But it’s Ziegler who holds our attention, with a pinched walk that echoes his pinched face in the early scenes. Even here, though, we have a sense of a man who wants to unlock the prison door of his heart as he tries to dance at the Fezziwig party or take part in the parlour games at Fred’s Christmas dinner.
Shamata makes the female characters as well as the ghosts the instructors in prying open Scrooge’s humanity. Throughout the play, the women speak to the other characters in a scene, but they regularly stop in front of the “invisible” Scrooge who’s been brought into each episode by one of the ghosts and address their scolding or moral directly to him.
Ziegler wins us with the transformation from a cold and calculating man to a gleeful, life-loving friend, a change that works for audiences of any age. And speaking of winning people over, there’s no better way to turn young viewers on to good theatre than by taking them to A Christmas Carol.
