With the holiday season just around the corner, you will encounter some version of A Christmas Carol. There is a production playing at Theatre Calgary and plenty of options on your streaming service. If you’re craving the classic story, told with a little bit of a spin, don’t miss StoryBook Theatre’s presentation of One Christmas Carol. This performance is a labor of love, featuring Natascha Girgis playing all 35 distinct characters. With only three chairs on stage, lighting, and sound, Girgis leads us through the story, leaving us with the magic of the holiday season.
Girgis, dressed simply in slacks and a vest with a long sleeved shirt, moves with such confidence on stage, embodying every character. Her movement and voice acting is impeccable and she is unflappable with the younger audiences shifting in their seats. She is a strong narrator who moves through Scrooge’s transformation. She makes all her characters distinct and I especially love her little boy, singing Christmas carols through the keyhole.
JP Thibodeau as director has Girgis move around the stage to build out the story and illustrate the story through lighting design (also by Thibodeau) and sound design by Ross Wilson. These elements come together to really illustrate and distinguish the three spirits and their telling of Scrooge’s life.
This production is a tour de force for Girgis. It’s a massive amount of text to memorize and perform so distinctly. This is a version of Carol that you should see, because it’s so different from all the other versions you’ve probably seen many times.
Storybook Theatre’s production of One Christmas Carol runs until December 29th. More information is available online.