Review: Merry CHRISTMAS CAROL Rings in the Season at Trinity Rep

Trinity Repertory Company's production of A Christmas Carol is one of Rhode Island's favorite Christmastime traditions. Theater goers young and old are drawn back to the tale of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge as he encounters the otherworldly apparitions that so entirely change his outlook on life and on the true meaning of the season.

The 2015 Carol, directed by Curt Columbus, is a solid production and quite enjoyable, though small elements keep it from being a fully immersive theatrical experience. While well done overall, the emotional punch of past TRC Carols is lacking in this year's staging.

Some of this stems from the show's pacing; the storytelling drags in areas, especially during the start of the second act, and small changes to the book this season both help and hurt the production. Comical scenes and characterizations veer toward the exaggerated, deferring to abundant silliness rather than letting the script's humor stand for itself. A handful of modern-day terms and phrases sprinkled through the dialogue ("hostess with the mostest," for example), though infrequent, feel incongruous in a heavily Dickens-faithful adaptation, breaking the spell of the Victorian setting. Still, the all-important ghosts are very effectively portrayed - each enjoys an entrance befitting the particular character of the spirit - and Trinity's actors make the most of each ounce of Christmas cheer.

Stephen Berenson fills Scrooge's nightgown and sleeping cap this season, and for an actor so well suited to comedy, he plays a mean Ebenezer. When the audience first meets Scrooge, surly and cantankerous in the frigid halls of his counting house, there isn't a glimmer of humor about him-no snarky jesting to his comebacks, not a twinkle in his eye. In fact, midway through Scrooge's unfriendly Christmas Eve exchange with his nephew, a young audience member asked his mother sotto voce, "Why is he so mad? Why is he so mean to everybody?" While Scrooge's scenes do get laughs, they're none of Berenson's doing. He plays straight man as those he encounters (particularly Scrooge's clerk, Bob Cratchit) cower humorously in his wake. It's only during Scrooge's redemption that Berenson's trademark bubbliness comes fully to bear on his characterization.

His Scrooge also takes time to yield to the spirits' lessons. There are some clearly emotional segments in Christmas Past, and still Scrooge remains largely unmoved by the time he encounters Christmas Present. He does interact more freely with the shadows of the Present (talking back to Mrs. Cratchit and Fred; trying, if stiffly, to join in the dancing), but Berenson's default expression in these scenes is one of priceless bewilderment rather than dawning festivity. It takes the chilling encounter with Christmas Future to finally see a thaw in his disposition and a change of heart beginning for Scrooge.

Stephen Thorne, as Cratchit, plays more comedy than tragedy this season, though he presents a beautifully moving portrait of a grieving father during the Christmas Future visions. Cratchit's losing battle with the coal stove is a highlight of Thorne's performance, as is his quick delivery of lines relating to specific props, the gigantic prize turkey and some stray flakes of stage snow in particular.

In the space of a few bars of song, Brian McEleney paints a very complete picture of the late Jacob Marley. His posture is ramrod straight as he meticulously counts silver pieces and marks down figures in a ledger, his entire bearing radiating cruelty and severity. When death finally comes for Marley, the change in his expression is chilling. Gone is the superior haughtiness and aloof demeanor; instead, raw fear and desperation are written across his features. As a ghost, McEleney's shade feels more anguished than frightening, though his entrance is quite effective as is his eerie form. In this, Toni Spadafora's costuming for Marley is quite impressive. For all appearances, Marley just crawled up out of the grave. His garments are ragged and tattered, his flesh cracked and decayed, and his eyelids completely covered over by pennies as he staggers around after Scrooge, rattling his chains.

Spadafora's work for other characters' costumes is just as impressive, particularly the spirits' garb. The lacework detail in the back panels of Christmas Past's gown is out of this world, an unexpected touch on an already eye-catching costume. Christmas Present's robes transition layer by layer to aid in the spirit's rapid aging process, while Christmas Yet-to-Come's sepulchral aspect is downright unnerving, a unique and memorable take on the manifestation of the mysterious Ghost of the Future.

The character of Scrooge's charwoman has been omitted this season, while his laundress, Mrs. Dilber, enjoys an expanded role. This works rather well, adding a sweet, funny exchange to Scrooge's redemption and giving Janice Duclos some fabulous material to work with. Duclos is spot on in her portrayal of Mrs. Dilber, often stealing the spotlight with a single word or a pointed look, and she plays a jolly Mrs. Fezziwig as well.

Deb O crafted very spare set pieces for this Carol, primarily featuring some ironwork lattice and movable furnishings. For much of the production, in fact, piles of boxes and suitcases remain covered by tarps and dust cloths, making ideal surfaces for John Narun and Aaron Rhyne's fantastic projections. Again, these are used to best advantage during the ghostly visitors' time on stage, with Marley's face hovering spectrally in midair, abstract illustrations of Ignorance and Want stretching grotesquely across the canvas, and the menacing shadow of Christmas Future lurking, scythe in hand, in the deepest shadows.

A Christmas Carol plays Trinity Repertory Company's Chace Theater through December 31, 2015. Tickets are available online at www.trinityrep.com, by phone (401) 351-4242, or by visiting the box office at 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI. Adult ticket prices range from $25-$100 and children's tickets are $25-26 (ages 2-14). Contact the box office for group rate information.

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Photo by Mark Turek