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| December 2004 | |||||
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Jacob Marley (J.D. Sutton)
The Orlando Sentinel
Excerpts from the review by Elizabeth Maupin
Posted December 7, 2004
Scrooge (Philip Nolen) Jacob Marley (J.D. Sutton)
Charles Dickens was right. "Bah! Humbug!" is a pretty good line. Dickens knew when to use it, and so does Mark Brown in The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge, the gleeful new comedy at the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival. Brown knows exactly how to make "Bah! Humbug!" funny all over again. And it's his way with Dickens' words -- turning them inside out and upside down in the service of this clever follow-up to A Christmas Carol -- that makes The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge the exhilarating entertainment it is.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that the Shakespeare Festival has given Trial a glorious production, with expansive direction by Arlen Bensen and a nifty cast led by the formidable comic talent Philip Nolen, whose take on Scrooge is as wily and inventive as any Scrooge could hope to be.
Brown's ingenious script is set on Christmas Eve of 1844, just one year after Ebenezer Scrooge learned the lesson of good will to all at the hands of four domineering ghosts. But the lesson doesn't seem to have stuck with him: Now the setting is a court of law, where Scrooge has sued the ghosts for attempted murder, kidnapping, breaking and entering, trespassing, stalking, slander, theft, pain and suffering and the infliction of emotional distress.
It seems that Scrooge has reverted to his old disagreeable self, and now he has to contend not only with the original cast of characters -- his nephew Fred, Bob Cratchit and the like -- but also with a couple of new adversaries: Solomon Rothschild, a grandstanding defense attorney, and the irascible Judge Stanchfield R. Pearson.
Brown has proved himself at the Shakespeare Festival before, most recently with his antic adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. And the festival has given his script everything it needs to flourish in the Margeson Theater -- a handsome courtroom set by Bob Phillips, with huge arced windows looking onto a wintry scene outside; suitably melodramatic lighting by Eric Haugen; splendidly Christmasy Victorian costumes by Kristina Tollefson and sound effects by Britt Sandusky that do the trick but don't overwhelm the ear.
Jacob Marley (J.D. Sutton)
Bensen has brought together a delightful cast, with Ron Schneider as the archetypal thundering judge and Jeff Marlow as the sugary Rothschild. J.D. Sutton makes an innocent, empty-headed Bob Cratchit and a cantankerous ghost of Jacob Marley, who doesn't fare well on the witness stand; Timothy Williams turns the benevolent Fred into a wittily self-satisfied twit, and he brings plenty of expression to the Ghost of Christmas Future.
Diana Brune is a stitch in a variety of small roles, and Sarah Hankins makes the most of all the script's young ladies (she's best with the ingenuous Ghost of Christmas Past). Seth Maisel is an amusingly beleaguered bailiff, who plays Cratchit to the judge's Scrooge.
Still, they all stand aside for the force of nature that is Nolen, whose scrunched-over, supercilious Scrooge knows he's smarter and better than every other being in court. This Scrooge has a habit of badgering the witnesses (he mocks Marley's Ghost by twisting his face into an approximation of The Scream) and he doesn't like to be wrong. When he finally goes giddy, it's as if a whirlwind has come to town; if you look at the faces of the audience across the way, their jaws are hanging open in wonder...
The ending that gave Brown trouble at last year's Playfest workshop now works wonderfully: It builds so speedily and smoothly to the climax that every bit of it seems right.... So does nearly everything else in a show that makes you chortle all the way through, even while you're recognizing that this Scrooge has a word or two of wisdom to impart. At this time of the year, it's a pleasure not to be hit over the head with sentiment, no matter how sweet that sentiment might be. And it's downright heavenly to recognize the gift that Brown and the Shakespeare Festival have given us -- a dazzling display of the nifty stuff that people can dream up for the stage.
The Orlando Weekly
Excerpts from the review by Steve Schneider
Published 12/9/04
Scrooge (Philip Nolen) ,Christmas Past (Sarah Hankins)
We as a people have a strange habit of neutering our fiercest holiday fables. Left to our own devices, we forget that It's a Wonderful Life is a story about attempted suicide, and that Dickens' A Christmas Carol lobs more socialist word-bombs than Abbie Hoffman lobbed in his lifetime. Instead, we ghettoize these as "cute" tales, spurring theater companies and the producers of TV-movie remakes to burlesque them even further – all in search of that new wrinkle that will hold our increasingly elusive attention.
Playwright Mark Brown's The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge – now enjoying its world-premiere run after a few years in development at the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival – performs the marvelous feat of finding that new wrinkle yet exploring it in a way that pays proper respect to the source material. Set in a courtroom one year after the events of Dickens' story (and letting the Practice-esque legal volleying flow logically from there), the play is slick holiday entertainment that doesn't scrimp on the literary gravitas. Amateur adapters pay heed: Here's how to have fun with a classic without making fun of it.
The pitch is simplicity in itself. Having seemingly reverted to his crotchety, pre-redemption self, Scrooge (Philip Nolen) is suing the ghosts for a litany of offenses they committed against his person one fateful Christmas Eve, including kidnapping, slander and attempted murder. A preening, dandyish defense attorney named Rothschild (Jeff Marlow) calls a procession of witnesses to testify on the spirits' behalf – thus allowing playwright Brown to revisit the fantastical events in order and with supreme deconstructionist wit. (Just what do those spectral slackers do on the remaining 364 days of the year, anyway?) Yet little of the story's emotional impact has been sacrificed. Great gobs of the original text are here, their shimmering prose and accusatory tone perfect fits for the courtroom setting. (Not even Vincent Bugliosi could wrangle a summation line as damning as Dickens' "Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.")
Director Arlen Bensen enhances the verbal jousting with the right amount of physical razzle-dazzle – a blast of spooky fog here, a flutter of falling leaves there. The ascension of Marley's ghost (J.D. Sutton) to the witness stand is a moment of trap-door magic that carries all the appropriate connotations of a visitation from Hell.
Standout characterizations include Timothy Williams' turn as nephew Fred (endearingly overimpressed with his own capacity to make merry) and Sarah Hankins' rapid-fire channeling of the Ghost of Christmas Past, Fan and Belle (performed in unbroken succession). Nolen's Scrooge is an expectedly derisive treat.... focuses more of our attention on the consistently droll testimony taking place before our eyes and ears. The crux of that testimony remains the timeless lesson that the well-being of mankind is everyone's business; this Trial establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt that it can be a seriously funny business as well.
Marley (JD Sutton), Judge (Ron Schneider), Rothschild (Jeff Marlow)
Last season, during the Orlando Shakespeare Festival's Festival of New Plays, Mark Brown's The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge received a workshop presentation and is among two pieces from that festival to receive full scale world premiere productions by Orlando Shakespeare Festival this season. The other, Trapezium - A Knightly Farce, opens in January. Trial, which plays through December 26th, is a marvelous, extremely well-cast production that is just the ticket to get you in the holiday spirit.
The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge takes place one year following the transformation of Scrooge, after he was visited by his deceased partner Jacob Marley and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Scrooge seems to have reverted to his natural tricks and has brought forth charges against Marley and the ghosts for breaking and entering, trespassing, stalking, slander, theft, kidnapping, attempted murder, pain and suffering, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Sounds funny, doesn't it? Well, it plays even funnier under the direction of Arlen Bensen and in the expert hands of the delicious actors who play these familiar Christmas characters.
Diana Brune is exceptional in her multiple characters, providing great humor in Mrs. Cratchit's cameo as well as in the testimonials of Mrs. Wainwright and Mrs. Dilber, as well as the ghostly translator for the Ghost of Christmas Future. Sarah Hankins brings her three characters to life before our very eyes, transforming from the Ghost of Christmas Past to Scrooge's sister, Fan, to his embittered fiancée, Belle, within moments. Hankins is most successful as Belle and provides an intense close to the first act in a passionate argument with her would-be husband. As Scrooge's nephew Fred, Timothy Williams is perfectly cheerful and dapper, but it is his performance as the Ghost of Christmas Future that will leave you guffawing and cheering his name. J.D. Sutton's Jacob Marley and Bob Cratchit are masterpiece examples of playing complete opposites within moments of one another. Sutton's transformations are exemplary. Acting as defense attorney to the ghosts is the Solomon Rothschild of Jeff Marlow - a performance as perfect as it is dripping with smarm. As the honorable Judge Stanchfield R. Pearson, Ron Schneider is a domineering presence, with ample support from the wonderful Seth Maisel as the Bailiff.
The star of the show, aside from Brown's charming script, is Philip Nolen, whose portrayal of the title character is merrily cantankerous, and upon a second "transformation," absolutely delightful. Nolen's physicality along with his perfect characterization make Scrooge as likable as possible in his reverted state.
Bensen's solid direction is enhanced by the physical production surrounding it, with Bob Phillips' scenery magnificently lit by Eric Haugen's lighting design. Kristina Tollefson's costumes are tremendously attractive and look beautiful underneath Haugen's terrific work. Britt Sandusky's sound is admirable as well, especially in the moments prior to the appearance of each spirit.
If you've yet to join in the festivities of this holiday season, this may be the play to start with. It has just enough "bah, humbug" in it to ease you slowly into the happiness of the holidays, and will send you into the cool air whistling Christmas songs, and ready to mail out those neglected greeting cards. The Orlando Shakespeare Festival has brought us a delightful new holiday tradition - and what a wonderful gift for this Christmas!
The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge plays through December 26th at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival's Shakespeare Center located in Loch Haven Park. Ticket information is available by visiting the company's website, www.shakespearefest.org.
The Cast: Scrooge - Philip Nolen*
Marley/Cratchit - J.D. Sutton*
Fred/Future - Timothy Williams*
Past/Fan/Belle - Sarah Hankins*
Rothschild - Jeff Marlow*
Judge - Ron Schneider
Mrs. Cratchit/Wainwright/Dilber/Translator - Diana Brune
Bailiff - Seth Maisel
* Courtesy of Actor's Equity Association
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Last Updated: 05/06/2007 Copyright Orlando Shakespeare Theater |
