This holiday season, Rabbit Room Theatre presents a newly imagined version of the Charles Dickens holiday classic, A Christmas Carol.
From December 7 through 22, audiences can witness this unique reframing at the Franklin Special School District Performing Arts Center. Rabbit Room Theatre’s Artistic Director and award-winning playwright A.S. Pete Peterson provides a fresh look at this beloved story in a way never-seen-before. Unlike many other adaptations of the tale, Peterson decided to include scenes that many skip past, preserving as much of Dickens’ original tale as possible.
For him, the process offered an incredibly fun challenge: translating “Dickens' prose and imagination into a new medium without losing the wit and wonder and humor and pathos of it, and that's an incredibly fun challenge,” says Peterson. Since Dickens’ story is on the shorter side, the creative team really got the chance to “give it room to stretch its legs and breathe.”
“That means we can dig a little deeper into the forces that have so twisted Scrooge into the hard, angry miser we all know. This extra space we give to the story lets us ask questions about how his present is affected by his past and how that knot of heartbreaks and traumas might be untangled,” Peterson says. “At its heart, I think, it's a story about how we carry our pain and how it can shape us for good or evil. The reality is that if we try to manage our pain alone, it poisons us, but if we allow ourselves to be vulnerable in community, our pain can actually be a gift that helps us understand others.”
When it comes to transferring the story to design, designer and award-winning Director Matt Logan aimed to capture both the old and the new presented in the story.
“Pete's adaptation has many new dimensions and levels. Dickens was telling a tale of his time and in many ways, Pete is too,” Logan says. “The text itself is known and celebrated for looking back in time, looking forward, and standing in the present day. In the play, Dickens gives us license to infuse the world we live in while also telling the tale of the world he was in. It is very complex when you look at time but what remains constant is the human elements of pain, struggle, love, and compassion. I wanted the physical world of the show to embody the same juxtaposition.”
Because of the contrast, Logan chose simple devices of Grand British Theatre: footlights, velvet curtain, gold proscenium arch, a carriage, old furniture, and lamps that make the playing space shift and change with whimsy and a sense of the old world. However, the costumes showcase the modern element.
“I used clothing of today to build silhouettes of the past. Lots of layering and styling bring a playfulness to the design. I also mix in several period pieces to set the tone for certain characters and give us context for the place in time. Finally, the icing on the cake is the ghosts, and I let my creativity run wild to create new images of these classic spirits,” Logan says. “I pulled inspiration from modern designers like Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Thom Browne. It is on a bridge between current day and Victorian fantasy that we find our show.”
Called a wonderland of talent by Peterson, it’s no secret that the all-star cast and creative team stun. The play features an original score and digital projections by Tony and Laura Matula (MA2LA) and makeup and wig assistance by Sondra Nottingham. Leading cast members Henry O. Arnold, Ruthy Berends, Jennifer Whitcomb-Olivia, Morgan Davis, Jonah Jackson, and Kim Bretton are sure to deliver a performance to remember.
“We have so many great actors in Tennessee, and I am so thankful that this group said yes. It is a diverse play with lots of characters, so each actor needs different skills and areas of expertise. The crew must also possess the same level of skill,” Logan says. “One of my friends commented on this team we have assembled and referred to them as the A-Team.”
(1030 Excellence Way, rabbitroomtheatre.com)