BWW Reviews: An Original Christmas Twist with MR. DICKENS CHRISTMAS CAROL at Henley Street Theatre and Richmond Shakespeare

Ironically, one of the first lines in "Mr. Dickens' Christmas Carol" is "we can't make one revolution around the sun without 10 Christmas plays being written." When I heard that Henley Street Theatre and Richmond Shakespeare were producing local playwright Bo Wilson's original adaptation on the Dickens' classic, my first thought was "what could possibly be done that hasn't been done 100 times before?" We've had Albert Finney, Bill Murray, Mr. Magoo, Mickey Mouse and Scrooge McDuck, the Muppets and even one written by my old friend Hans Bachmann at the former Lazy Susan Dinner Theater in Woodbridge, VA.

Boy was I wrong. Wilson's play takes the story from the perspective of Charles Dickens himself. With bills mounting, Dickens (Andrew Hamm) needs to write a new money making play. With a severe case of writers block, Dickens gets the help of "three invisible spirits" Past (Joe Pabst), Present (Rebecca Anne Muhleman) and Future (Jeff Clevenger).

The spirits join together not only to help free Dickens writer's block, but they also embody the entire cast of characters (except for Scrooge himself, which Hamm as Dickens undertakes). The result is pure visual magic. All four actors give stellar performances creating their multiple roles and giving each the right nuance, facial expressions, vocal variation and countenance to make them recognizable and believable (and no, Muhleman does not portray all of the women!).

Director Gary C. Hopper puts all of the pieces together to establish the beautiful images created by Wilson (and Dickens') words along with Joshua Bennett's sets, Michael Jarett's lights and Tennessee Dixon's stunning projection design. Unfortunately, by taking risks with such spectacular projections and lights, there were a few problems, including the projection software crashing for a few scenes on the night I saw the show and occasional shadows on the actors faces created by side lighting (which creates beautiful shadows at other moments). Special effects are fantastic as well, especially the arrival of the ghost of Christmas future. Elizabeth Weiss Hopper's costumes are also spot on for the period and for the visual experience. Each scene is like an illustration jumping right from the pages of the book.

With all of the Christmas plays, movies and TV shows; this one act marvel truly embodies the heart of the season. Playing through December 21 at VCU's Grace Street Theatre. www.HenleyStreetTheatre.org