A Sentimental Christmas Carol
Where: Royal Theatre
When: Friday, Saturday 8 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m.
Tickets: $30 to $80 250-385-6815
It seems Victoria just loves A Christmas Carol.
This week, CBC radio personalities gave a staged reading of the Charles Dickens classic at Alix Goolden Hall. On Dec. 19, actor Jason Stevens performs his one-man version of A Christmas Carol at Langham Court Theatre.
And this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, actor Kelt Eccleston teams with the Victoria Symphony at the Royal Theatre for A Sentimental Christmas Carol.
A Sentimental Christmas Carol gives the familiar story of Scrooge’s moral redemption a new twist. Presented in the style of an old-fashioned radio play, the text is whittled to 20 minutes with Eccleston playing all the characters.
The Victoria Symphony, guest-conducted by Timothy Hankewich, provides music and sound effects. The performance also features soprano Eve-lyn de la Haye.
“The composer has written it so the orchestra is constantly playing Christmas carols in a way that underscores the emotional tenor of what’s happening in the plot,” said Hankewich, who is music director of Orchestra Iowa.
As well as seasonal favourites such as God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, A Sentimental Christmas Carol will feature lesser-known offerings such as the 15th-century Boar’s Head Carol (which describes the ancient tradition of sacrificing a boar for a Yuletide feast).
“What’s fun for the audience is to see if they can keep track of how may carols have been quoted throughout the piece,” Hankewich said.
The conductor, who collaborated with the Victoria Symphony last month for Dvorak’s Violin Concerto, said A Sentimental Christmas Carol presents an unusual challenge.
“In musical terms, it’s a concerto for actor and orchestra. It’s kind of a tricky piece, only in that the challenge for the orchestra and the conductor is to time it seamlessly.
“The music is tailored for the script, and every actor [who narrates it] has a different pacing,” Hankewich said.
Eccleston is a familiar face on Victoria stages, as an actor and as a musician. Earlier this year, he acted in the Belfry Theatre’s acclaimed production of Home Is a Beautiful Word, a verbatim play about homelessness.
Other theatre credits include Good Timber (the Other Guys Theatre Company) and seven years with Story Theatre Company — a Victoria troupe specializing in performances for children.
Eccleston says he prefers A Sentimental Christmas Carol to other adaptations, since it focuses less on the frightening aspects of Dickens’ story and more on Scrooge’s change of heart.
“So it’s more of a self-realization thing,” he said. “It’s good. I like the script, actually. It gets to the meat of it.”
The actor is performing another entry in Victoria’s A Christmas Carol sweepstakes.
Eccleston is doing a one-man show for Story Theatre called Mean Old Mackie’s Last Christmas. It’s about a miserable old codger who, with help from elves and a magical red cap, goes on a world tour to teach him the meaning of Christmas.
If you ask Eccleston, one can’t have too much of A Christmas Carol, whether it be the book, a stage adaptation or the 1951 film classic starring Alastair Sim.
“If you want my take, I think we’re losing Christmas a little bit. You get caught up in the commercialization of it.
“It’s nice to be reminded there’s another side to it,” he said.
