Since 1996, The Indiana Repertory Theatre has presented A Christmas Carol, adapted by Tom Haas. The original story by Charles Dickens was wildly popular when it was published in 1844, and is probably one of the most revisited ghost stories ever printed. The story of charity and redemption is so familiar to audiences that it would be easy to fall into a rut after so many years of Tiny Tims and Scrooges, but the IRT has managed to refresh and renew this classic every year.
Why does this Victorian era ghost story still speak to us nearly 200 years later? Greed, ignorance, despair, and want are still very much with us, as is the chance of redemption and change. We could set the same story in today’s New York City or Silicon Valley with tech billionaires on mega-yachts ignoring the plight of people living under overpasses.
Nephew Fred (Nathan Karnik) and his wife Felicity (Kayla Carter) invites miserly and miserable Uncle Scrooge (Rob Johansen) to Christmas dinner, and is rebuffed. Felicity brings him a gift and he rejects it, but after dismissing his assistant Bob Cratchit (Ryan Artzberger) from work, he picks up the gift and takes it home. Marley’s ghost visits him and warns him that his miserly ways are a one-way ticket to a horrible fate. The three ghosts of Past (Maria Argentina Souza), Present (Sean Blake), and Future (Nathan Karnik) visit, taking Scrooge on a journey of past joys and disappointments, and finally to his own potential end as a despised man. Waking up on Christmas morning, Scrooge realizes the error of his ways and unwraps the gift, taking joy in the simple bright scarf as he buys the biggest turkey for the Cratchits and showing up at Fred’s house for a day of merriment. We learn in the epilogue that Scrooge remained a changed man who knew how to keep Christmas all year long. And Tiny Tim, who does not die, becomes almost a son to the old man.
Priscilla Lindsay’s direction of A Christmas Carol emphasizes the story of Scrooge and his potential for opening up his heart and spirit to others — truly a gift for a fuller and happier life. While the Crachit’s plight is served well, with Tiny Tim (Noah Gringauz) and the rest of the family gathered around a meager hearth, the spotlight is truly on Scrooge and his choices. We see the events of his life that lead to his bitterness and the hardness of his heart, but we also see that all the time, he had the capacity for love.
A Christmas Carol will be at the IRT until Dec. 24. Tickets are available online at irtlive.com or by calling 317-635-5252.
