Director Perlman's changes to the text are frequent and purposeful, more a polish than an outright rewrite. He has Marley repeat his death scene words, "Your only friend," to Scrooge in his initial haunting, in answer to "Who is it?" One of the businessmen considering going to his funeral, and the one who said he might have been his best friend because they spoke together when they met in the street, here says it's because Scrooge once nodded to him in the street — a major shift in emphasis.
Of course, this sentimental favorite ultimately lives or dies on whether we truly believe in the final redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge. Hantman certainly makes believers of us as director Perlman slows things down enough for the significance to sink in.
And let's not forget the considerable background contribution of Michael Rice's musical direction and Patrick Lynch's set design, with numerous little drifts of snow against black bricks and more than a dozen doors for Scrooge's memories to peer from and to slam.
Good old Christmas Carol: 80 minutes of soul-enriching entertainment. Even adamant old pagans like myself can appreciate the loving spirit that this tale of kindled fellow-feeling engenders.
Topics:
Theater
, Rachael Warren, Mauro Hantman, Theater, More 
, Rachael Warren, Mauro Hantman, Theater, Theatre, Patrick Lynch, Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Adrian Hall, Charles Dickens, Richard Cumming, Less 
