Prof's adaption coming to stage

November 20, 2006 —

by Brandon Kish

Director Ric Roberts and costume designer Elise Shannon discuss Josh Thomas' costume before Friday's rehearsal. Thomas plays the Ghost of Christmas Present in Roberts' adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" that opens Dec. 1.

"A Christmas Carol: Marley's Redemption" will be performed in the Malcolm Field Theatre for Performing Arts beginning Dec. 1.

The story was originally written by Charles Dickens in the 19th century about a cold-spirited old man named Ebenezer Scrooge who has no Christmas spirit. Scrooge is visited by his old deceased partner, Jacob Marley, and later by three more spirits that help Scrooge redeem his good heart.

Throughout the years, other authors have kept the part of Marley rather small, but Ric Roberts, assistant professor of Theatre and the director of the play, has decided to create a new adaptation of it to make it more like Dickens' original story.

"This is a very true adaptation," Roberts said.

In the original book, according to Roberts, Jacob Marley is seen much more throughout the book than what an audience is used to seeing. Roberts, seeing this as odd, decided to bring back the true characteristics of the story in his own adaptation.

Roberts said that the scenes in the SVSU play are exactly as Dickens wrote them and that the main difference is the stronger character of Marley, as he is the narrator of the play.

"Marley has more of a part," Roberts said. "He rarely ever leaves the stage."

The only time Marley will stop narrating the story is when he has to play his own character, which is the only time Scrooge will see him. Marley will focus the majority of his attention on trying to get the other ghosts to help Scrooge's spirit.

Another interesting part about the play is that Marley is also trying to be rewarded with redemption. After being in purgatory for seven years, he finally decides to try to help Scrooge. In doing this, Marley will also redeem himself and possibly be released from purgatory. He will no longer be portrayed as a bad spirit.

Roberts said that this is one of the largest casts and sets the school has seen, as well as one of the most expensive. The play has technologies that SVSU has never seen, such as snow machines for the set.

The cast has a total of 49 members, 37 of them being SVSU students. The rest of the cast members are all connected to SVSU through the summer theatre programs. The ages of the cast members range from age seven to 43.

Much of the work for this play came from the adaptation itself, which took roughly eight months.

"Doing adaptations comes with its pluses and minuses," Roberts said.

In doing so, he was able to create the kind of play he wanted but it also took up a lot more time. Roberts said he rewrote the play around 10 times before being satisfied.

The play will run Dec. 1-3 and Dec. 8-10. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $7 for students and senior citizens.

For more information on the play, go to svsu.edu/theatre.