A Different Point of View

About a week ago, we went to see Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol at NC State, performed by Actor's Comedy Lab.

Everyone's of course familiar with Dickens' traditional Christmas Carol with Ebenezer Scrooge as the protagonist. This one is shown from the point of view of Jacob Marley. Recall, it was Marley's ghost who first visited scrooge and who haunted the tight-fisted fellow. In this version, it's Marley who's doing the talking.

The play is done in a very minimalist type of setting, with only some walking planks as set, without any costumes to speak of and with only the talents of 4 actors to entertain you. Yet, when well done (and this was) it's a very powerful and moving play. A bit corny (yes, the message is still that it's never too late to redeem oneself), but much less so than the traditional version. More up to date, much more fun, with a lot of dry wit added into it. I especially like the no-nonsense approach: black canvass and the actors and the script have to do the work. That's real theatre to me. Seeing as these plays are very seasonal, it probably won't be put on again till next year, but if you have the chance to see it then, I give it two thumbs up.

In general, we've been very happy with the performances at NC State. Overall, the Triangle does not boast much high quality theatre to speak off, but the offerings at NC State and Raleigh's Little Theatre deserve to be pointed at as bucking that trend. True, Chappel Hill is usually more know for its artists and intellectual qualities. Unfortunately this doesn't extend to most performances at UNC's Playmakers Repertory theatre which needs to get the stick out of it ass and get on with the 21th century. I'm not usually a fan of the city of Raleigh, but in this case, they win from rivalling Chapel Hill.

Here's to plenty more good theatre in 2006!