When you want to entertain children, sometimes you have to mug a bit and Geoff Elliott does some scene chewing and mugging in this outing as Ebenezer Scrooge. Elliott adapted the Charles Dickens’ classic as well as co-directing with his wife, Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. Coming in at about 90-minutes without an intermission,

In counterpoint to the Geoff Elliott’s hammy Scrooge, there’s the serious narrator (Robertson Dean) who reads passages from the book. As many times as I’ve seen “A Christmas Carol,” I’ve never actually written the text. Listening to Dean made we want to read and maybe some of the children in the audience will also be so inspired.

 

If you’ve been living under a rock or somewhere that doesn’t celebrate Christmas, the story runs like this. An old man called Ebenezer Scrooge has a company that he built with his partner Marley (Mitchell Edmonds), who has been dead for seven years. Scrooge’s only employee is the poor Bob Cratchit (Stephen Rockwell).

Marley’s Ghost warns Scrooge that if he continues his mirthless, selfish, miserly ways, he will be doomed to roam the next world with chains made from his selfish deeds. Three Ghosts will visit Scrooge–Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. Each will reveal something to Scrooge. From the past, Scrooge remember that he wasn’t always such a bitter, lonely man. From the present, he sees how other people celebrate and see him, including Crachit. Crachit has a large family and his youngest son, Tiny Tim (Damaso J. Rodriguez) is quite ill. Being poor, the Crachits can’t afford the medical care he requires. From the future, Scrooge sees how people will remember him. A changed man, Scrooge embraces the love and joy of the Christmas season.

In this production, there’s a bit of dancing (not authentic period) and some original music by composer and sound designer Ego Plum, but this is merely a bit of flash to keep us entertained and there were a couple of instances that the singing was off key (and not on purpose I believe). Yet there are some wonderful visual surprises such as the appearance of Marley’s Ghost and the realizations of the three Ghosts of Christmas.

If you’d like your children to get a sense of “A Christmas Carol” as a literary tradition, then A Noise Within’s production is a good start.

“A Christmas Carol” continues until 23 December 2012. For more information, visit A Noise Within’s website.