Independent Shakespeare Co. presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL
By: Rebecca Russo Nov. 21, 2016
INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. (ISC), producers of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH Charles Dickens. In his lifetime, Charles Dickens was recognized not only as a great writer, but as an actor. His greatest successes on the stages of Britain and the United States were his solo performances of his own work. One of the first pieces he presented to great acclaim was A Christmas Carol. A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH Charles Dickens will perform at Independent Studio from Thursday, December 8 - Sunday, December 18(Thursdays - Sundays) at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village.
In what has become a holiday tradition, ISC re-creates (with a little artistic license) the experience of a public reading given by Mr. Dickens himself. Based on the novelist's own adaptation, A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH Charles Dickens is performed by ISC co-founder David Melville as Charles Dickens, playing nearly every character in the story. The LA Weekly said, "David Melville has an almost preternatural gift for wry understatement and comic timing." The production features musical accompaniment and dramatic interjections by a young American actress, Miss Kalean Ung.
This is ISC's eleventh year of presenting A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH Charles Dickens. Says ISC Artistic Director, Melissa Chalsma, "It is an honor to welcome audiences into our intimate Studio! Dickens (who as a boy of eight was sent to work in a factory) wrote A CHRISTMAS CAROL to urge his fellow citizens to towards a more compassionate society. Our unplugged version of the story sets aside the commercial bells and whistles that so frequently go along with a production of this classic tale, and allows all of us to reflect on the possibility of transformation that Dickens offers. It is a humane story full of generosity, shrewd observations, and wry humor."
The performance of A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH Charles Dickens is full of the acting pyrotechnics Dickens was famous for as the two actors conjure a magical evening full of wry humor, ghosts, romance, and redemption.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST
Melissa Chalsma (Director) is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Independent Shakespeare Co. Under Melissa's leadership, the company created the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, which has grown into the largest theater event of its kind in Los Angeles. She directs many ISC productions, including Richard III, Romeo & Juliet and Twelfth Night at the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, and at Independent Studio, Othello, Pericles and Doctor Faustus. Other directing projects include the Western Premiere of Akio Miyazawa's Hinemi (California State University, Northridge). As an actor, she has been seen in leading roles in ISC productions, including Katharine in The Taming of the Shrew and has performed at Shakespeare festivals across the US, on Broadway (including the American premiere of Harold Pinter's Moonlight with Jason Robards, Blythe Danner and Liev Schreiber) and in the UK, including at the Derby playhouse and London's Battersea Arts Center. She is married to ISC co-founder David Melville. Together they have produced two children and sixty-seven theatrical works.
David Melville (Charles Dickens) is co-founder of Independent Shakespeare Co. and the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival. Roles for ISC include Richard III, Hamlet, Iago, Macbeth, Henry V, Benedick, Friar Lawrence, Dr. Pinch, Feste, a one-person Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens in The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, WH Ireland in the one man show Solemn Mockeries and BeauTy Smith in the original musical Red Barn. David wrote and co-starred in Strange Eventful History, a condensed story that takes the audience through 10 Shakespeare plays and 150 years of British war. As a composer David has written the music for most of ISC's Shakespeare productions, Red Barn, and many of the songs for Dr. Pinch's vaudeville shows. London appearances include The Almeida Theatre productions of Hamlet(also Broadway) and Ivanov (both of which featured Ralph Fiennes), Mother Courage (with Glenda Jackson) and Henry VI in The Wax King (The Man in the Moon). TV and film includes: Lawrence of America; Ironclad; The Understudy and Perfection. David trained at the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Kalean Ung (Miss Ung) ISC credits include: Tatiana in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ariel in The Tempest, Margaret in Richard III, Desdemona in Othello, Marina in Pericles and Viola in Twelfth Night. She has performed all over Los Angeles in such theaters as The Kirk Douglas Theatre, Theatre @ Boston Court, REDCAT, Highways Performance Space, and The Getty Villa. Her recent Los Angeles credits include: Paul Sand Presents: Kurt Weill at the Cuttlefish Hotel, The Actors' Gang, The Temptation Of St. Antony with Four Larks Theatre (2015 Ovation Award for Best Ensemble), Purple Electric Play! with Machine Project, Prometheus Bound with CalArts Center for New Performance/ Getty Villa and Alcestis with Critical Mass Performance Group/Theatre@Boston Court. She received her MFA in Acting from CalArts and her BM in Vocal Performance from UCSC.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH Charles Dickens
Independent Studio
Thursday, December 8 - Sunday, December 18.
Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village, Los Angeles, CA 90039. Free, ample lot and street parking.
For tickets, please call (818) 710-6306 or buy online at www.iscla.org
ISC's TICKETING PRICES
Generous Admission - $35. Support ISC's initiative to provide access across income and age!
General Admission - $20. ISC's affordable ticket price.
Free! A limited number of free tickets are available for each performance so that price is not an obstacle to attending live theater. Call the office for information and to make a reservation.
For tickets, please call (818) 710-6306 or buy online at www.iscla.org
Photo credit: Mike Ditz
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