| Tidings of Comfort and Joy |
At Lighthouse Theatre |
| Lighthouse Theatre- A Christmas Carol – A Live Radio Play , Aberystwyth Arts Centre , December 2, 2023 |
December opened with the coldest weather in thirty years. The shows for winter are opening all over. Just one company has taken a Christmas season offering on the road to all points north and south. From Holyhead and Pwllheli to the estuary of the Usk is as far as can done. The production values are high, the house at Aberystwyth is good, the atmosphere is one of a merriment to match that of the Cratchit family. Gratitude then is due to Lighthouse Theatre and its helpers, Pontardawe Arts Centre, Arts Council Wales, and Tŷ Cerdd. Lighthouse has returned for the third time to a format that has served them well. The Dickens story, one of both high sentiment and harshness, is a performance wrapped within a performance. Joe Landry's adaptation sets it in a 1946 New York City studio. Seven actors perform a live WBFR Playhouse of the Air radio production coast-to-coast for Christmas Eve. The format allows director Joe Harmston and designer Sean Cavanagh to create a production that is strongly visual. To the side of the main players Kieran Bailey's Bert Schulz, also musical director, presides over an array of props to provide live sound effects: partying and jolliness, the winds of winter, the clanking chains of the spirits. When footsteps are required Bailey's hands don shoes that walk in a box of gravel. Mark Henry-Davies as Bradley “Butch” Langley warms up his radio audience with an introduction to the cast and their triumphs on radio and Broadway. Maisie Fogg corrects him on his pronunciation of Susie Lalupe. Adrian Metcalfe plays Harry “Jazbo” Heywood in a suit of startling stripes. Fellow Lighthouse creator Sonia Beck plays Miss Myrtle O'Hara. Miss Maddie Finkelheim is played by Jennifer Ruth-Adams and Scrooge's Dornford Brampton by David Prince. Apart from the visual aspect of the sounds effects for radio the company's voices inhabit a range of characters. Maisie Fogg does an emotionally affecting Tiny Tim. Adrian Metcalfe is a rheumy Old Joe, handing over his parsimonious half-crowns for Scrooge's meagre possessions from life. Mark Henry-Davies is irrepressibly cheery nephew Fred. In David Prince's vocal treatment Scrooge's favourite retort “Humbug” is turned a five-syllable word of dismissal. No story has out-done “A Christmas Carol” in its depiction of a life where love has been long foregone. In death vultures strip Scrooge's home of its furnishings and even his night-shirt. A colleague in the Exchange of years' standing grudgingly says he might go to the funeral but only if a good lunch is to be had. Against the sombreness of mid-nineteenth century London life the reality of 1945 Manhattan entertainingly intervenes. The cast perform with relish the advertising for the broadcasting's commercial sponsors. Mini-dramas are spun and voices chirrup in harmony to sing the praises of Bremel Hair Tonic, Duck's Toilet Soap and Frank's Front-loading Dishwasher A horribly industrialised Genowski Wonderbread has a genie, his product giving a boy in languor renewed energy to go to the fair. Counterpoint is a cornerstone of form in art across the genres. These interludes, done with collective gusto, offset the gaunt nature of much of Dickens' narrative. They also shine a light on the wonder of his descriptive power. Asked what has become of the ailing infant the Spirit says “I see an empty corner at the table.” The master of figurative language Dickens caught his anti-hero as no other could. Of Scrooge: “He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days, and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, not wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him.” This being a show for the season it ends with tidings of comfort and joy, ringingly sung. The definition of Lighthouse- a powerful light from on high that shines far and wide. Too true. The tour of 19 venues: Thursday 16th November 2023, Pontardawe Arts Centre Friday 17th November 2023, Tumble Community Centre Saturday 18th November 2023, Blaengarw Workmen’s Hall Monday 20th November 2023, Blackwood Miners Institute Tuesday 21st November 2023, Treorchy Rugby Club Wednesday 22nd November 2023, Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon Thursday 23rd November 2023, Ebbw Vale Institute Friday 24th November 2023, Theatr Mwldan, Cardigan, Sunday 26th November 2023, Pontardawe Arts Centre Tuesday November 28th 2023, Neaudd Dwyfor, Pwllheli Wednesday November 29th 2023, Aberystwyth Arts Centre Thursday November 30th 2023, Hafren, Newtown Friday December 1st 2023, Pontio, Bangor Saturday December 2nd 2023, Ucheldre, Holyhead Monday December 4th 2023, Miners Theatre, Ammanford Tuesday December 5th 2023, Riverfront Arts Centre, Newport Wednesday December 6th 2023, Ffwrnes, Llanelli Friday December 8th 2023, Y Tabernacl, Machynlleth Saturday December 9th 2023, Taliesin, Swansea |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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