Through Sat 12/23
A CHRISTMAS CAROL is perennial family holiday fare for its messages of social consciousness, charity and the human need for joy and fellowship. Charles Dickens’ work is still relevant today, as greed and miserliness against the poor and downtrodden by the rich can still bring societal strife and hopelessness to many. The message that a conversion from a miserly curmudgeon to benevolent humanitarian is possible is one of optimism that audiences crave.
Charles Dickens was outraged at the conditions in which the poor and working class lived and wished to draw the upper classes’ attention to their plight. His themes of the need for social conscience and benevolence are just as pertinent today.
This tale, as told by the ensemble cast of Rubber City Theater, is filled with wit and sagacity. Scrooge (Chris Simmons) could be a contemporary of those who hold our nation’s highest offices. Ebenezer Scrooge’s contempt and dismissal of the downtrodden as lazy and negligent and his conversion from a man of greed and viciousness to one of compassion and altruism is a message of hope that will cheer audiences of every age and background.
Michele McNeal directs a very accomplished cast with a clever balance of wit and dexterous insight. Standout performances by Eric Mansfield (as Bob Cratchitt, Ebenezer Scrooge’s ill-treated and underpaid clerk) and the three ghosts of Christmases past, present and future make this production stand out from the competitive theater season this time of year.
Mansfield plays Cratchitt as the kind of everyman underdog Steve Carell has perfected for the big screen; he is hopeful and cheery despite home and work strife and unpleasantness. Erin Moore (as the ghost of Christmas past) deftly walks a tightrope between ebullience and pedagogy, at once compassionate of Scrooge’s fate and foreboding of his providence. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Sean Taylor) is a commanding presence and scene-stealer whose voice of pragmatism and contrition motivate Scrooge and push the narrative toward neighborliness and acts of goodwill. Cait McNeal (as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) is compelling in her silence.
Shelby Carlisle stands out as Belle an effervescent admirer of young Ebenezer who later becomes his anguished wife. Michele McNeal’s costumes bring this period piece memorable vividness and transform the ghosts into evocative raconteurs.
Rubber City Theatre continues to earn its place as a one of the country’s finest millennial theater companies and one that makes great accessible family theater.
Akron, OH 44320