Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at The Goodman

The wonderful thing about holiday traditions is that they can never really ever be the same from one year to the next. By the time the holiday season rolls around again, we carry 365 days' worth of experiences and lessons with us into our plans and routines, to say nothing of the friends and loved ones we gain--and lose--along the way. So it's perhaps no wonder that The Goodman Theatre's production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, now in its 48th year, still tells a timeless story of love and redemption that nevertheless feels timely in a year when Chicago has seen so much hatred and cruelty. This year's production, under the thoughtful yet daring direction of Malkia Stampley, runs through December 31 in the Goodman's Albert Theatre.

My first experience seeing A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the Goodman was a few years ago, and I went in expecting a high-quality production of a show (and story) that I have known backwards and forwards since I was old enough to understand what Christmas is. And, in this regard, the Goodman always succeeds. The sets and special effects are breathtaking, the costumes intricately designed and reimagined, the performances consistently some of the most sincere and moving of the season.

But the detail from that year that has stuck with me after all this time is the opening tableau of immigrants singing a traditional Ukrainian folk song as neighbors invited them inside to feast. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had taken place less than a year earlier, and the conflict still commanded the front page of most major newspapers. It spoke volumes to me that the director of A CHRISTMAS CAROL that year chose to Raise the Curtain on such a scene. In that moment, I--and many others--didn't care that Ukrainian immigrants didn't walk the streets of London in 1843 or that the nation state of Ukraine didn't even exist yet. What struck me instead is that the Goodman and its creative team had chosen to take a stand and connect Charles Dickens's past to our present, reminding audiences that just because theatre can offer us an escape from the outside world doesn't mean that escapism is the best course of action.

In this same tradition, Stampley and her team have succeeded in ensuring that the world audiences see onstage reflects the community they return to once the curtain falls. Much like that production from 2022, Stampley's vision not only opens with the appearnce of displaced immigrants but celebreates their arrival onstage with excited cries of "They're here!" As the show goes on, Christmas carols are sung in various languages, though Spanish is certainly the most prominent. As neighborhoods across the city--especially on Chicago's south and west sides--continue reeling from ICE actions that ripped families apart and traumatized communities, the decision to frame Dickens's tale as one of radical love for one's neighbors feels both defiant in our contemporary and faithful to the author's original intent.

After all, Ebenezer Scrooge and his proclamations certainly wouldn't be out of place in our current political landscape. Unfortunately, declaring that poor families should be split apart and ushered into hard labor (or the grave) has become as common a refrain for some American politicians as it was for the most infamous misanthrope in English literature. Because of views such as these, it's easy for audiences to be disgusted by Scrooge, especially early in the play.

And, as Scrooge, Christopher Donahue once again proves himself adept at crafting a complex portrait of a man whose hatred and meanness are fueled by pain and trauma. But Donahue also manages to find the humor in Scrooge's disagreeableness, and numerous audiences members at intermission commented on how surprisingly funny and charming the character can be under Donahue's command. 

Of course, Scrooge's transformation wouldn't be possible without the help of his cadre of spirits. Daniel Jose Molina pulls double duty as both a thrillingly terrifying Jacob Marley and the equally iconic, if much more limited, Ghost of Christmas Future. Lucky Stiff serves as a sprightly Ghost of Christmas Past (though they're more memorable as a boorish party guest in the second act). But the standout performaance goes to Bethany Thomas as the Ghost of Christmas Present. With a commanding presence and good cheer to spare. Thomas's performance helps bridge the tonal shifts from the nostalgia of Act I to the more exuberantly joyful and morally edifying Act II. 

Other standout performances include Jon Hudson Odom as the perpetual optimist Bob Cratchit, Robert Schleifer as a playful and inspiring Fezziwig, and Amira Danan as Scrooge's devoted and empathetic niece Frida. It's to casting director Lauren Port's credit that she has assembled a London whose inhabitants are as lovable and diverse as all of our own neighbors and community members.