Lantern Theater Company Presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL Live and Digital

Lantern Theater Company continues its 2022/23 season with a remount of its original adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, commissioned and developed through the Lantern's New Play Program and co-created by Philadelphia theater artists Anthony Lawton, Christopher Colucci, and Thom Weaver.

In this wonderfully clear and direct telling of Dickens' beloved novella, acclaimed playwright and actor Anthony Lawton brings the story boldly to life with drama and frankness, in a manner Dickens himself would recognize from his dramatic readings during his own lifetime. Lawton's compelling solo performance brings each character to life in this timeless story of a miser's miraculous redemption from a life of bitterness, greed, and isolation. Lawton's heartwarming adaptation has captured the hearts of theater critics and audiences alike, inspiring a new Philadelphia holiday tradition.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol runs Saturday, December 3 through Wednesday, December 28, 2022, at The Proscenium Theatre at The Drake; a complete schedule of performances is included in the fact sheet below. Theater critics and members of the press are invited to request press tickets for the opening performance on Sunday, December 4 at 2 p.m. by contacting Anne Shuff at ashuff@lanterntheater.org. To ensure a safe and comfortable theater experience, everyone other than the actor on stage must wear properly fitted masks while attending the performance. For audience members who prefer to watch from home, the Lantern will also be streaming a fully designed and edited film version of A Christmas Carol from December 13, 2022 - January 1, 2023.

Written in 1843, Dickens' holiday classic is famous for its ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future who help Scrooge see the error of his ways. But Dickens originally envisioned A Christmas Carol as a social justice pamphlet denouncing child labor and poverty entitled An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man's Child. England in the 1840s was a time of rapid industrialization, massive population growth, and widening gulfs between the rich and the poor. Throughout his life, Dickens was highly sensitive to and outspoken about social issues, particularly those involving children and economic inequality.

"There are some stories so woven into the mythos of a culture that it seems impossible to imagine a time before they existed," said Lantern Artistic Director Charles McMahon. "A Christmas Carol is one of those stories. Stripped of holiday clichés, it is a devastating story, laying bare all the ugly forces that separate and isolate human beings from one another, turning life into a solitary torment. It is also a joyous story of one person's release from that torment just at the moment when it seems about to clasp him in its grip for all time. We are thrilled to again present this original adaption of A Christmas Carol - a unique version in which you will hear the simple power of the words and the characters told in a clear and simple human voice."

Lantern Theater Company will delve deeper into the themes of A Christmas Carol on its Lantern Searchlight blog, available online at lanterntheater.org/searchlight. Published articles explore the world of Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol in the nexus between Victorian economics and literature, the fascinating circumstances surrounding the writing of this holiday classic, and more.

Tickets for the live production of A Christmas Carol are $25 - $30 and are available online at www.lanterntheater.org or by calling the Lantern Box Office at (215) 829-0395. Discounts are available for students, seniors 65 and up, U.S. military personnel, and groups of 10 or more. Performances of A Christmas Carol will take place at The Proscenium Theatre at The Drake, located at 302 S. Hicks St. in Center City Philadelphia. During the 2022/23 season, the Lantern will announce updated health and safety guidelines 30 days prior to the start of each production. For A Christmas Carol, everyone other than the actor on stage must wear properly fitted masks at all times in all parts of the performance venue, including the lobby, performance space, restrooms, and stairwells. More detailed information is available at lanterntheater.org/health-and-safety.

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