A Christmas Carol

I want to recommend, though, is one that was presented two years ago here in Los Angeles at the Geffen Playhouse, and is available for online streaming through the end of the year. It’s an absolutely stunning one-man show adapted by Jefferson Mays, Susan Lyons and Michael Arden. It’s performed by Mr. Mays with Mr. Arden directing. It’s my understanding that this production was a 10-year collaboration between the writers director and actor.

Mr. Lyons is our narrator and he also plays every single character in the story. It’s a tour-de-force performance but one that’s never showy or hammy. Every moment is finely tuned to get Dickens’ point across. The scary parts are properly scary (my greatest beef with most adaptations is that they aren’t scary enough), the heartbreak is palpable and the transformation is earned and appropriately cathartic. The production is also world-class with a brilliant rotating stage, and sound and lights and projections intricately layered to support and expand the story.

Also, it’s very faithful to the source material, so you get to hear all of Dickens’ delicious prose over the course of its 100 minute running time.

It’s a pricey stream at $50, but the money will help keep one of the best mid-sized theatres in Los Angeles afloat. The Geffen has been quite nimble in adapting to the restraints placed upon it by the Coronavirus. They’re presenting very interesting and unusual virtual offerings that might be a model for the future of Theatre at Home-- with our without a pandemic. Also, when you factor in what you’d spend to take your family out to a night at the theatre, you might realize that this is a true bargain. And one that I cannot recommend highly enough.

Keythe Farley