A Christmas Carol
A Holiday Tale
by Charles Dickens
adapted and directed by Preston Lane
November 26 – December 24, 2010
Tonight changes everything.
Ebenezer Scrooge's last chance is one night and three spirits. It's a life-changing ride through past, present and future as he learns what it means to be human. Nineteen actors bring Dickens' classic Holiday tale to life in a dazzling new production brimming with bold acting, daring design and spine tingling special effects. Our new Holiday tradition for the Triad is a ghostly tale of Yule-tide cheer, gracious redemption and heart-warming hope for the whole family.
Running time: 90 minutes, with no intermission.
"You get the feeling that this is not just A Christmas Carol but THE Christmas Carol. You will be wowed and at the same time filled with wonder...at how Triad Stage makes it all seem new. It even feels like Dickens is there, somehow, watching, musing and, ultimately, applauding."
–Lynn Jessup, Classical Voice of North Carolina
Click here to read the full review.
Triad Stage casts a new darkness on A Christmas Carol
YES! Weekly interviews Preston Lane and Scrooge himself, Gordon Joseph Weiss.
Read the full article from YES! Weekly here.
A Christmas Carol on 88.5 WFDD's Triad Arts Up Close
Triad Stage Director Preston Lane and actor Gordon Joseph Weiss share their take on A Christmas Carol and its lead character Ebenezer Scrooge. With host David Ford.
Listen to the interview podcast from 88.5 WFDD here.
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A Christmas Carol is presented as a special event and is not included in the Season Pass package. 2010-2011 single ticket prices apply. Passholders can purchase Flex Tickets at the special rate of $25 each if purchased in conjunction with a new or renewed 2010-2011 Season Pass.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
“But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus.”
–Jackson Browne
This production we share with you today is the fulfillment of over ten years of dreaming. From the very first conversations Rich and I shared about Triad Stage, we hoped to include a full scale production of A Christmas Carol. For various reasons, we have not felt that it was possible to do so until now. But I think the wishing has only strengthened my deep desire to share one of my favorite of all stories with you. I am delighted to finally have the chance.
Too often, Dickens’ ghostly tale of holiday redemption is seen as an obligation by regional theaters, a guaranteed audience pleaser necessary to balance budgets and fill seats. I find a liberating artistic freedom in approaching the play not as a requirement, but a privilege. I share this story with you because I love it. I find in Scrooge’s wild night the glorious potential we all have to wake one day and suddenly become better than we are, to discover that a new life is possible and that our past sins can be thrown aside. I rejoice in the promise of re-connecting to lost humanity and renewing the social contract. Dickens’ book is one of the most powerful novellas ever written because it so perfectly blends politics, moral outrage, spirituality and hope to create a Holiday tale short on sentimentality but overflowing with wisdom and hope.
This is not my first time to direct and/or adapt A Christmas Carol. My first professional job in the regional theater was re-mounting the story at Dallas Theater Center. My adaptation with Jon Moscone has been produced by theaters around the country. And I am sure this will not be my last production or adaptation. The story keeps calling me back and each time I explore it again, I discover something new.
As with any great classic, A Christmas Carol remains fresh as long as we approach it with honesty and curiosity. I have endeavored in this adaptation to see the play through the eyes of children. I have asked these children to haunt us with their ghostly tale and to remind us that there is some of Scrooge in each of us. And like Scrooge, in each of us there is the potential to reach out to our fellow citizens, to give freely and to strive to be better.
I hope Dickens’ tale will haunt you long after the final words are spoken and that Scrooge’s spirited rebirth will fill your Holiday season with joy.
 Preston Lane |
