A holiday mainstay, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a story we’re all familiar with: King of the grouchy misers Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future and is forced to take a good, hard look at his life.
And just when you think there’s not much newness that can be injected into the story of old Ebenzer’s ultimate redemption, enter Merely Players’ production of “A Christmas Carol,” which will open tonight at the Fort Lewis College Mainstage Theatre.
This version is a unique collaboration of theater, dance and music – with puppetry thrown in for good measure. Working with the dance-theater company 20Moons, and with live music composed and directed by Jeroen van Tyn, this is not ye olde “A Christmas Carol.”
“I think it’s just a unique take,” said Mona Wood-Patterson, the show’s director and co-founder of Merely Players. “It’s a fusion of original music and dance and acting and puppetry.”
Wood-Patterson took the original story and adapted it for the stage. And through the collaboration with the dance company, a cool twist was born: As the play’s actors are doing their thing, dancers serve as spiritual beings, sharing the stage with them and providing another dimension to the story – even acting as pieces of furniture.
“We’re always interested in the collaboration process and in learning new things, stretching ourselves, pushing our own edges,” said 20Moons co-Director Anne Bartlett. “We were really interested in how do you do movement with a narrative – an actual narrative, and text-based theater with movement, and so when we got the opportunity to jump in with Merely Players, it seemed like the perfect place to experiment.”
And it works: Almost like inside a snow globe when you shake it, the action on stage seems to swirl between dimensional layers, especially when you add a unique set built by Charles Ford and actors who never leave the stage.
“There are entrances and exits, but the entrances and exits happen on stage behind this incredible set that Charles has built that’s kind of transparent,” Bartlett said. “You can see through it, you can see what’s happening back there, and so nobody’s ever off; everybody’s performing for the entire duration of the show, which is really exciting and cool. And it makes the changes, you have all these actors who are changing from one character to the next and the changes are transparent; you get to see that transformation happen right on stage.”
Not only does the artistic collaboration make for a really cool show, it seems to benefit everyone involved as well.
“It’s been great creative energy because in order to become the best artist that you can be, you need other people to help open you up and push you forward,” Wood- Patterson said. “And we do that for each other – layering on some new dimensions.”
katie@durangoherald.com
If you go
What:
“A Christmas Carol,” presented by Merely Players and 20Moons Dance Theatre.
When:
7 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3, Dec. 16 and 17. Matinees at 1 p.m. Dec. 3 and 4, Dec. 17 and 18.
Where:
Fort Lewis College Mainstage Theatre.
Tickets:
$25, plus applicable service fees. Available online at www.durangoconcerts.com, by phone at 247-7657 or by visiting The Ticket Office inside the Durango Welcome Center, 802 Main Ave. Tickets are also available at the door.
