Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol: Not Dead Yet

An impressively minimalist take on a very familiar story, Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, written by playwright Tom Mula and performed by the Rhode Island Stage Ensemble (RISE) employs four actors, almost no props and a set consisting of nothing more than a few boxes, a platform, a table and a chair. It, therefore, throws all-in, trusting the ability of the actors, each of whom must play a number of different parts. Fortunately, all of the actors are up to the demand.

Marley could be described as a meta-theatrical take on the beaten-to-death Charles Dickens short story A Christmas Carol in the spirit (pun intended) by which Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a take on Hamlet, but that would be a bit misleading because Marley and the ghosts are not minor characters in the original. It is really closer in tone and approach to the Frank Capra film It’s a Wonderful Life, borrowing a lot from that. (The Capra film was based on a little-known short story that was, in turn, based on the Dickens short story.)

Marley is a re-imagining from the perspective of Jacob Marley, the deceased business partner of Ebeneezer Scrooge who comes in the night as an apparition to warn him and set the plot in motion. It is wisely careful to preserve the five or so highly recognizable (and public domain) lines from Dickens that have by now entered the popular parlance, but is otherwise substantially original and modern. Marley (Steven Taschereau) is, of course, dead as a door-nail, but he is the main character in this version, given the opportunity to free himself of the chains fettering him that he forged in life and made link by link, provided that he inspires a change of heart in Scrooge (Dave Brunell) “before cock’s crow.” (A common theatrical trope made famous by Shakespeare is that creatures of the night must complete their ghostly errands before the break of dawn, after which “no spirit dare stir abroad.”) In his quest, Marley is assisted by a “Bogle” (Amy Simard Bukowski) and supervised by the “Record Keeper” (Chistopher Pelletier).

Taschereau is brilliant and amazing to watch as Marley, working with little more than body language and expression to take on various roles, including the ghosts of Christmas Past and Christmas Present. During the course of the play, Marley slowly realizes his own mistakes and develops an understanding of his own past life, mirroring Scrooge’s more well-known journey. Bukowski as the impish Bogle evinces outward cynicism masking genuine encouragement while assisting Marley. (“Bogle,” pronounced with a long “O,” is a Britishism for “bogey” as in “bogey-man.”) Brunell is at something of a disadvantage playing Scrooge because his character is the most constrained by our knowledge of the original story, but he acquits the familiar character well by making him the sort of white-collar criminal who carefully dances just inside the perimeters of the law before we see him on television news being escorted into a courtroom. Pelletier plays a range of significant characters in addition to his primary role as the Record Keeper, including Crachit, kind old master Fezziwig, mean elder apprentice Dick Wilkins and Scrooge’s nephew Fred.

If you’re looking for something different from the usual Christmas-themed theater fare, RISE in Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol presents a strongly acted performance of an intellectually engaging, yet straightforward play. Mostly echoing the ethos of Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, but with a more than a hint of the ironic cleverness of Jean Shepherd’s A Christmas Story, this version of the well-worn Scrooge story is about as much Christmas fun as you can have with no risk of shooting your eye out.

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, directed by Elizabeth Labrecque, Rhode Island Stage Ensemble, at the Masonic Hall, 142 Clinton St., Woonsocket. Fri (12/11), Sat (12/12) 7:30pm, Sun (12/13) 2pm. About 1h45m including 15-minute intermission. According to the theater, free parking is available across the street in the lot of the electrical supply company when they are closed and behind that in the municipal lot. Refreshments available during intermission.

Web site: http://www.ristage.org/ Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2462450

Read the original: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol_%28Dickens%29