A CHRISTMAS CAROL
At Pacific Theatre until Dec. 31 Tickets: 604.731.5518 www.tickets.pacifictheatre.org
We generally don't think of Charles Dickens as a funny guy; droll, perhaps, but not humourous. But Ron Reed, in his adaptation of and performance in A Christmas Carol, makes this seasonal favourite merry, lively and at times, quite funny.
Tour de force is a phrase I've used before to describe a performance of Reed's but it's never been as remarkable as it is here. He gives the illusion of having memorized the entire novella, playing all the characters from penny-pinching Ebenezer, to his ebullient nephew Freddie, Freddie's disapproving wife and the street urchin who runs to buy the biggest turkey in town for Scrooge. The only character Reed doesn't play is the turkey. (Considering what happens to the bird, that's probably a good thing.)
Under Sarah Rodgers direction and with the assistance of violinist Kathleen Nisbet, Reed animates Dickens as never before. Each character is distinct and cleverly crafted; the story moves along at a very brisk trot.
Truly inspired is Rodgers' Old Curiosity Shop set concept and Bryan Pollock's design, warmly lit by Lauchlin Johnston. Collectibles from cloth dolls and stuffed crows to ships' bells and books line the walls; many of the items are pulled off shelves and used in the telling of the tale. Nisbet scarcely says a word but responds to the storyteller, handing Reed the props and participating in puppet sequences (like Scrooge and the spirit flying through night skies). Her delightful violin accompaniment throughout adds another layer to what is already a beautifully layered production.
Reed makes Scrooge's transformation look like Christmas morning in a houseful of kids; he rushes about, he beams, he's beside himself with the joy of finding himself alive and altogether changed.
Written in 1843, A Christmas Carol may be an old chestnut but Reed roasts it to perfection.
OLD LOVE
At Presentation House until December 18 Tickets: 604-990-3474/www.phtheatre.org Reviewed by Jo Ledingham
Flirty, romantic love after age 60? Playwright Norm Foster (Canada's answer to Neil Simon) brings hope to goldenaged singles, divorced and widowed in Old Love.
Directed by Jay Brazeau, it's a tale of two older, could-be lovers: Molly (Suzanne Ristic), at the graveside of her recently deceased husband, and Bud (Vince Metcalfe), divorced for years, and smitten by Molly whom he first met at the company Christmas party years ago. Bud used to work for Molly's husband and by the time we meet them at the funeral, he has bumped into Molly on several occasions.
Pam Johnson's set features a huge alarm clock face, a constant reminder of tempus fugit. Old Love turns the clock back and revisits those past meetings and along the way, Metcalfe and Ristic play Bud and Molly, Molly's husband Arthur, Bud's wife Kitty, Molly's son Arthur Jr., his wife Kendra (who, shuddering at the very thought, coins the phrase, "old love" as if it were a euphemism for leprosy) and various others characters.
It's predictable; if Molly and Bud don't eventually take a chance on each other, the audience will feel as if it has wasted an evening.
But Metcalfe is so darned charming; he's got a grin that would defrost your freezer. And Ristic is so skilled at the straightshooting, no-nonsense Molly that you just love her. How many women, for example, on a first date talk about a "dried up vagina?" Ristic just lets the line rip. Talk about chemistry between these two. Who wouldn't love this Molly? Who could resist this Bud?
Somehow, knowing that director Brazeau and Ristic have been married to each other for ages-"but it seems longer" is what quick-with-the-quip Brazeau would probably say if he were a character in a Norm Foster play-adds a certain something to this production. Foster's script is witty and heart-warming and this production is lovingly, generously crafted.
