Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is another of my seasonal traditions. I have several movie version plus an audio reading of the book, which I need to enjoy each year. However, I also need to attend the Denver Center's presentation of the play.

The first time I saw this play, the company was the Bonfil's Company, and their theater was on Colfax. The company has become the Denver Center Theater Company, and moved into their current space many years ago. (The Tattered Cover Bookstore moved into their original space a couple of years ago after it was vacant for years.)

This is the second staging the play has had since I have been attending. The first staging was interesting as the set was slowly removed piece by piece as the play progressed; at the end only the scaffolding remained. Now there is a more traditional set with backdrops for the various settings, such as Scrooge's office, street scenes, etc.

The original staging was a lot darker too. Scrooge was unrepentant up until the cemetery scene with the Ghost of Christmas Future. Now Scrooge seems to moving to a life change even with the Ghost of Christmas Past; he does not need to be slapped around by the Ghost of the Christmas Future to become the good man.

Needless to say, this staging is not as dramatic. Scrooge seems to be moving to his changes, and his actions on Christmas morning are not a surprise. While it is still a nice presentation of a wonderful story, it is just nice.