A Christmas Carol: The Silent Bah-Humbug
Playwright: The Ensemble
At: Silent Theatre at NNWAC
St. Paul's Church, 2215 W. North Ave.
Phone: 773-544-1749; $15-$25
Runs through: Dec. 30
Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs 'A Christmas Carol.' Again.
Playwright: Blake Montgomery
and Charles Dickens
At: The Building Stage,
412 N. Carpenter St.
Phone: 312-491-1369; $12-$22
Runs through: Dec. 24
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
Traditional Victorian-era productions of A Christmas Carol are rife this time of year, but those wanting something slightly different are in luck.
In Chicago this season are two new unconventional stage adaptations on the 1853 Charles Dickens novella about an elderly miser who finds redemption with the help of four visiting ghosts.
Silent Theatre offers A Christmas Carol: The Silent Bah-Humbug at the NNWAC St. Paul's Church, a venue that has seen better days. And with a set consisting mostly of an oddly shaped black cloth to hide the church altar for backstage space, things don't look too promising.
However, any apprehension evaporates once composer/pianist/organist Isaiah Robinson masterfully strikes up the accompanying music and the company's characteristic white-face actors step out into the stark lighting of Chloe Honeyman-Bloede. That's when the stylized silent-movie theatrics of The Silent Bah-Humbug take marvelous flight.
Director Tonika Todorova has assembled a fine company of actors who are wonderfully expressive as pantomime storytellers. They're all greatly assisted by Branimira Ivanova's monochromatic costumes and Stephanie Schultz's expressionistic make-up designs that give the effect of a silent movie in three dimensions.
One may quibble how The Silent Bah-Humbug has updated to the early 20th century with Scrooge now as the proprietor of a theater instead of the original counting house. However, this just allows for more theatrical characters to come to the fore in this fun and fancifully realized adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
By contrast, there's just one actor in The Building Stage's Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs 'A Christmas Carol.' Again. That is Building Stage artistic director and show playwright Blake Montgomery, who portrays the famed Victorian author.
As the title suggests, Dickens isn't so keen to re-tell his perennial Christmas warhorse story, but he eventually does so thanks to conspiratorial lighting cues (by designer Matthew Gawryk) that essentially force him to do so.
As Dickens, Montgomery is certainly affable and engaging, especially for someone who is pushing 200. My problem was with the way Montgomery structured the show.
The first part is largely delaying tactics on Dickens' part, which will make those wanting to hear the traditional Christmas Carol story very impatient. Also, once Dickens does start telling the story, those wanting more E! True Hollywood Story-style insights on the author will feel slighted. Some more historical details on how Dickens got regimented into performing one-man shows of A Christmas Carol throughout Great Britain would definitely be welcomed.
However, at the very least, The Building Stage offers A Christmas Carol that is slightly different from the old stand-bys. So, if you're looking for alternate A Christmas Carols, I'd suggest trying out Silent Theatre's version first before seeing The Building Stage's one-man Dickens.