On the last day of school before Christmas vacation, we thought it would be wonderful timing to have a professional acting company come into Bulger theater and perform A Christmas Carol. I truly hope we will enjoy this experience! I am so curious to hear your thoughts, so please share your opinions freely or answer some of the questions I have here.
- Did the play show your favorite scene from the book?
- Did the play depict the ghosts the way you thought they should look?
- Did the play change a lot of lines or did you hear some of the quotes we looked at during our reading?
-Did the play delete scenes that you wished they had kept?
-Did the play add any scenes that are not in the original version by Charles Dickens?
-Were there any scenes that you thought were better in the play or better in the book?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Overall, I thought that the Christmas Carol play was very solid and stuck to the book, unlike other novels/movies/plays(*cough* Harry Potter). Most of the scenes were what I imagined them to be from the book, so that gave me a better overall look at the sequence of scenes occuring. The one and only problem I noticed with this play was the lack of curtains. Although they had the curtains available, it seems as if they decided not to use them. This meant that we were able to see all of the props that usually stay behing the curtain. But although they had no curtain, they found very creative ways to depict the scenes with these extra items. I also think that they nailed the dumping scene perfectly using the most important lines from the book, along with all of the other important scenes. This play filled my high expectations, and was a great experience to see. In fact, I wouldnt at all mind to see it again.
ReplyDeleteBy, Noah Levesque
Although at times there was either a lack of props or even an insufficient number of actors in a particular scene, the performers made it work, and offered up a heart-warming and enjoyable production of "A Christmas Carol". At the beggining of the play, due to the makeshift set, multitasking characters, and sometimes
ReplyDeleteconfusing transitions from act to act, I felt that it took some time for the audience to become accustomed to the style of the show and to seem engaged and facinated with the material being presented. For me, in the early stages of the plot (Scrooge's counting house, Fred's entrance, and Marley's appearance) it seemed as if the actors were more concerned with preparing the position of props on-stage than portaying the acual play itself. This accounted for the inconsistent, "all over the place", and even amateur feel of the performance throughout the exposition and 2nd stave. Marley's entrance simply didn't make it for me, because, for one, he looked like a wild bird with random shackles hanging off of him, and two, he did not act mysterious, supernatural or uncanny enough. I felt he relied too much on the seemingly "creepy" sound made by the aluminum board in the backdrop to justify for his ghastly disposition. In the second stave, despite the rather uncaptivating and occasionally phony actions by The Ghost of Christmas Past, it finnally became clear to me of the themes of togetherness, friendship, and
Christmas spirit showing up in the play. These themes became evident in Fezziwig's party, Scrooge's recollection of his past, and his girlfriend dumping him ect., as Scrooge had the sudden realization of his cold, mean, and materialistic attitude, and then began to change. The prodction progressed nicely from here and I loved the portrayal of the Ghost of Christmas Present except for one part when he had to change into his "Master Peter" costume right on stage in order to attend dinner with the Cratchits. My favorite character in the play was Bob Cratchit because of his clear-cut moral, family values, as well as his important virtues such as kindness, selflessness and love that he exibited so well. Finally, the last two staves that transpired on-stage really sealed the deal for me as Scrooge was extremely passionate in his willingness to change for the greater good in his time with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and was also convincing with his altered and gidddy personality at the end. Overall, it was a great production, and even considering some small details that could have been corrected, I enjoyed "A Christmas Carol" andd would reccomend it too.- Jack Doran
Thanks, Jack and Noah, for posting a comment. I am glad you both liked the play and you both made some great points! I really thought the performance was excellent; I love that they stuck to the words of Charles Dickens and didn't try to get all creative with it. I did think the staging and lack of actors was at times challenging and sometimes drew your attention away from the actual story, but that's the beauty of live theater. You really never know what to expect. Overall, I think it was a great Christmas gift for us to share together and I am so glad we were able to see it.
ReplyDeleteHope you all enjoyed your vacation and are reading something good on your own!