Stage Review - A Christmas Carol (Allen Fitzpatrick)
Stage Review - A Christmas Carol
Produced and Directed By: Allen Fitzpatrick
Date Reviewed: Saturday, November 25, 2023
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
This past weekend I had the unexpected opportunity to attend a presentation of Allen Fitzpatrick’s one-person version of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. I say unexpected because it’s something that I never really had on my radar and the event sort of fell into my lap serendipitously as a matter of circumstance. I first saw Allen in last season’s Village Theatre production of Hello Dolly, and this season I attended The Canterville Ghost, a show that he directed at Key City in Port Townsend. As part of a conversation I was having with Allen about that show, he mentioned his version of A Christmas Carol, a one-person show playing one night only at Aspire Repertory Theatre in Northgate. Of course I’ve seen one-person shows before, and I’ve seen my share of versions of A Christmas Carol, so I went, more out of curiosity than anything. After all, how could this production of Ebenezer Scrooge’s redemption arc be altogether different than anything I’d seen before? Well, it didn’t take long for me to learn the answer to that question.
Upon entering the theatre space, it’s clear that simplicity is the order of the day fo ratios show. The set is stark, a table, more like a side table than anything else, a stool, and a carpet. But when Allen takes over, this simple set is transformed, first into Scrooge’s counting house, later Bob Cratchit’s home, and throughout it becomes every location inhabited by the characters in the story that we’ve all become so familiar with, all this without changing a thing. That’s because it is the acting that drives this production, and in what is a testament to Allen’s ability, this show wonderfully captures the essence of what this story is about. It’s commonplace to see a rote version of A Christmas Carol in which a group of actors take on the various roles in the story, and personally, I can count the number of versions of the Dickens classic I’ve seen that are better than serviceable on one hand, but this is no common version of the story.
It’s apparent that not only does Allen understand the text, and there is a lot of it, enough to deliver this piece clearly, confidently, and naturally, moreover he understands the emotional subtext of it all. He brings the audience into the story, making them feel good when Scrooge is presented with a happy memory or at his time of redemption, sad when his heart breaks, angry at his treatment of Cratchit, and scared when he is presented with the possibility of his own demise. These emotions flow freely from Allen’s performance, and his ability to inhabit each of the characters so completely is exactly what makes this work.
A Christmas Carol is an hour of Allen Fitzpatrick at his absolute best. It’s true, he’s got some support here through sound, light, and some projections, but at the end of the day it comes down to the performance, and there’s not a flaw to be found here.
Allen is taking this on the road to Michigan, with dates in Bay Harbor on December 2 and Beaver Island on December 3, but he’ll be back with his version of A Christmas Carol on December 13-14 in Wenatchee, December 16 on Vashon Island, and December 17 in Index. If you love the Dickens classic, or if you simply appreciate good acting, whatever the reason, this is well worth taking in, and could very well be a new holiday tradition.
For more information on these upcoming shows, visit the following:
Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Bay Harbor, MI - Sat Dec 2: https://www.facebook.com/greatlakescenterforthearts
Beaver Island Community Center, Beaver Island, MI - Sun Dec 3: https://www.facebook.com/bicommunitycenter
Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, WA - Dec 13-14: https://www.facebook.com/WenatcheeValleyCollege
Vashon Repertory Theatre, Vashon, WA - Sat Dec 16: https://www.facebook.com/vashonrepertorytheatre
The Bush House Inn, Index, WA - Sun Dec 17: https://www.facebook.com/BushHouseInn/
