Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is, by far, the most popular holiday story ever adapted for San Diego stages.
Lamb’s Players Theatre is also taking a fresh crack at the redemptive ghost story of miserly moneylender Ebenezer Scrooge.
Like the plays of William Shakespeare, “A Christmas Carol” remains an evergreen subject for adaptation because its language is so colorfully descriptive and its characters and ghostly visitations story so open to reinterpretation.
He’s younger by decades than most of the actors who play the role, but his wiry strength serves him well when he rides a sort of hand-held zipline track back and forth over the streets of Victorian London with the story’s time-traveling ghosts.
All of them are good actors and singers, and their well-coached harmonies are a credit the show’s two musical directors Smyth and G.
Jeanne Reith’s costumes are Victorian-ish, meaning they suggest the Victorian era, but are more contemporary and simple to allow the performers to move quickly and switch easily between characters.
Because of Lamb’s Judeo-Christian foundation, this version of “Carol” celebrates Christmas and its Biblical origin story more than most versions.