Bah! Humbug! Dickens, Scrooge, and the Occupy Movement

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Chris van Cleave played Marley's ghost in the 2011 Virginia Stage Company adaptation of the Dickens story. He has also played a number of other roles over the years, including Scrooge.

 

When I interviewed van Cleave, he was quick to remind me of Marley's famous cry to his friend: "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business!  Charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business!"

 

Van Cleave notes, " A Christmas Carol is very relevant in our "present' times of economic crisis, mass foreclosures of homes, vast unemployment, and no shortage of Scrooges in positions of power, all turning a blind eye to those far less fortunate, even destitute.  It is a time for humanity to awaken - like Scrooge - to realize what really matters after all is "sung' and done."

 

 

And the transformation called for is a spiritual transformation. After all, it is not possible to legislate morality.

 

In Lancaster, PA, the play was adapted by Co-Artistic-Director, Gary Smith, for The Theater of the Seventh Sister at the Stahr Performing Arts Center. Smith utilizes a 10-person Victorian "chorus" with members that provide the narration, characters, and even act as props. Smith sets his stage in monochrome until Scrooge has his epiphany, then bathes the set with transformative color.

 

Tickets for this production, which continues until Dec. 29, are sold for "Pay-What-You-Will." While the price of $25 is suggested, no one is turned away.

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