Smith says, "Many folks perceived A Christmas Carol as an "old, but tasty, chestnut' that we should visit annually in the name of tradition. I, on the other hand feel that it is always deeply relevant, and even more so in this time of social and economic uncertainty.
Scrooge is Wall Street - he's a hard-hearted financier - and the Crachits are the good-spirited, caring 99% ... Dickens is writing precisely about our time, and I feel the story is literally a blueprint for personal, social and spiritual transformation.
"We must honestly look at our past and honor how we arrived here, we must find the joy of living in the present and authentically foresee our future ... as Scrooge notes, this miraculously occurs, "All in one night.'
"As we watch Scrooge transform, we know that we all can transform to Right Action sourced by Right Intention, both individually and collectively.
"So my adaptation is stunningly true to what Dickens wrote, and producing it as Pay-What-You-Will keeps our theater and the production consonant with Dickens' meaning and intention ... we do not exclude anyone for financial reasons from this production nor from the potential of transformation. It is our hope to create a kind of community wide Pay-It-Forward mentality."
"God bless us, ev'ry one."
RESOURCES
Photos of the VSC's A Christmas Carol are courtesy of The Virginia Stage Company http://www.vastage.com . These photos by Samuel Flint are of the 2011 production, adapted by Patrick Mullins. Mullins brilliantly interspersed the performances of actual Victorian Christmas Carols in "A Christmas Carol," and it was so successful that I wondered why that hadn't been done many times already. Costume designer: Jeni Schaefer; Lighting designer: Bradley King, Scenic designer: Terry Summers Flint.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
6
5
4
