By Alayna Een, Front Row Reviewers
For many celebrants, the Christmas season is incomplete until they’ve revisited Charles Dickens’s timeless classic A Christmas Carol. In the 180th anniversary since it was first published, the story is more popular than ever, with theatrical adaptations available in almost every city—at least in Utah. But the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah, presents a take on the classic tale that you’ve never seen before by switching out the main character: trading the squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner of Ebenezer Scrooge for a fresh look at at the recently deceased Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s erstwhile business partner. Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge are two sides of the same greed-minted coin, but Marley, with the benefit of hindsight, embraces—unwillingly at first—the chance to orchestrate Scrooge’s change of heart. This four-person performance of Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol by Tom Mula will intrigue and entertain Christmas lovers and offer them new insights on how we are changed and liberated by serving each other.
With an exposition style that imitates Dickens’s own flowing prose, the play requires each actor to be both character and narrator, often flicking between roles from moment to moment. Thanks to the guidance of director Lynne D. Bronson, the coaching of dramaturg/dialect coach Isaac Maltby, and their own talent, the actors keep the stream of the story flowing clearly within these tricky changes, alternately painting vivid pictures for the audience members with their words and enchanting them with committed character portrayals. The black box theater is set in minimalist style, and Larry Schanker’s original music adds depth to the performance.
The most friendly and entertaining character is Bogle, Marley’s sarcastic, Scottish guide to the afterlife. Aunah Johnson (Bogle) enlivens the character with a faultless accent and her playful antics. Her interactions with Thomas Judd’s Jacob Marley, in both lighthearted banter and baleful discoveries, are the heart of the play. Judd, in turn, takes the lion’s share of character development and beautifully manages the many different emotions of his character within the story. Seeing real tears glisten in his eyes when he recounted the sight of the nativity as the Ghost of Christmas Present was the most moving moment of the play and serves as a testament to his excellent performance.
Nik Mikkelsen’s Scrooge performs above and beyond the list of pejorative adjectives Dickens originally used to describe the character. Mikkelsen does a great job of serving first as a mirror to Marley and then as a foil when Marley gets a kickstart on his own redemptive journey. The final actor is Joe Spear, the mischievous bookkeeper of the life beyond and various other characters. Spear is entertaining in his hunching, humorous take on the strange bookkeeper, and he works well with the other actors.
Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol is more dark and surreal than its Dickensian counterpart, with descriptions of a journey through hell and a much crueler culminating moment between Marley and Scrooge, so it may be best to leave your Tiny Tims at home. But the positive themes prevail, and those looking for a new and deeper way to engage with this well-loved story will likely relish this opportunity to see A Christmas Carol sung in a new key. So come make new memories at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah, this Christmas season with Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol!
A review by Front Row Reviewers.
The Covey Center for the Arts presents Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol by Tom Mula.
The Covey Center for the Arts, 425 W Center St, Provo, UT 84601
December 7 to 23, 2023, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $18-20; ages 8 and up.
Covey Center for the Arts Tickets
Covey Center for the Arts Facebook PageJacob Marley’s Christmas Carol Facebook Event
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