REVIEW: A Christmas Carol (Olney Theatre Center)
Preview: There’re a lot of Christmas Carii being mounted nationwide these days, including eight alone in our region that I found by googling “Christmas Carol DC”. I didn’t want to oversaturate this space by reviewing all of them, so I picked the one that caught my eye the most: the 14th iteration of Olney’s one-man production adapted and performed by Paul Morella.
Book: Unlike most productions, this one is probably the most faithful to Dickens’ novella around: nearly every single word comes straight from the original text (65 words aren’t, out of the 12,000+). What this creates from a theatrical standpoint is more of a stream-of-consciousness bonfire reading from a book than a piece of theatre, which Morella’s adaptation is both conscious of with pride and with struggle. It’s mostly apparent where things lay within the story via Morella’s acting (see below), but there are times where narration and character identities cross over and it becomes difficult to see where the plot picks back up. Ultimately, though, it’s as flowery and visceral as you’d imagine the 19th century parable to be, making for a familiar adaptation. 4/10
Acting: It’s quite the accomplishment to pull off a one-person show, especially for more than a decade. Guess that means it’s gotta be some good! Morella contorts persona after persona to fit himself into the 50 (!) roles in this piece, to solid effect. It’s easy enough to put on different voices, but subtly twisting in expressions and posture changes is a great skill that only 14 layers of performance experience can give you. As I mentioned, though, character fatigue becomes apparent around the halfway mark, but Morella’s charisma carries the show through. 8/10
Production: I’d never been to Olney’s Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab (their black box), but had high expectations since I know what they’re capable of out there. The corner-oriented stage is strewn about with household odds-and-ends, creating busyness and immediate attention. Framing the area are several projection frames, which I found both under-utilized and hard to perceive. When they were used, mainly to signify transitions between spaces, they’re so dim you barely notice they exist. Why even have them? Luckily, we have gorgeously moody lighting design by Sonya Dowhaluk. 5/10
VisDev: The production is great at establishing the mood and Christmas-y feel of the piece. Morella literally welcomes each and every person into the space after the ticket scan in full Scrooge garb. This is especially genial if you’ve attended more than once before, since he’ll probably recognize you! The space itself is cool and crisp, with the pre-show staging cozy only by name. The “program” itself is also a stylized, emeraldine primer to both the context of the play and the local history of this production. 7/10
VERDICT: Olney’s long-running Carol relies on a demandingly solid solo effort from its principal, saving it from an oft-shakey adaptation.
24/40
