Department of English                               Gymnasium Steglitz Berlin

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Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
performed by the American Drama Group Europe
at Akademie der Künste, Nov. 24th, 2010

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An amazing story for the Christmas time

On the 24th November 2010 we visited the “Akademie der Künste” to see the play “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens and we all enjoyed it. The eight actors, who belong to “The American Drama Group”, stage it very well and although the story is sad at some points they put some funny scenes in it.
I really liked the idea that one man acted the role of Charles Dickens and introduced the audience to the play. And also at the end he said some final words. The actors spoke English in a very nice way and so I did not have any problems to understand them.
The actors’ costumes were all in all well chosen and fitted the roles of the different characters. But I did not like the clothes of the first and the second Spirit, which presented the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, because they were overdressed. The outfit of Jacob Marley, another ghost, was not scary, just a little bit ridiculous.
I enjoyed that they had livened the story up with some funny scenes and jokes. One actor, for example, portrayed a door which made miserable noises when someone opened it.
But I disliked the singing of the actors and also the sounds in the background, because I think it was not necessary for the play.
I think the actor who portrayed Scrooge, the old stingy man, did his job very well, because of his gestures. He furrowed his brow, when he was working and just looked very mad sometimes.

I really recommend this play to other classes, because all in all it was a very nice performance of “A Christmas Carol” and an amazing story for the Christmas time.

L.R., 10b

A professional performance that gets the message across

On Wednesday 24^th November we went to the theatre to watch 'A Christmas Carol' as a play. Charles Dickens’s story is about an old, stingy man having lost his enjoyment for life in the course of time and his belief in the magic of Christmas. In one night he gets visited by a number of ghosts, who will finally convert him to a better person.

The play was staged by eight actors and actresses. The actor who played Scrooge suited the character well. He looked exactly like an elderly gentleman and was able to change his countenance from one moment to the other. He also got the emotions across to the audience in an interesting way. Fred was portrayed proficiently, so the relationship between him and his uncle Scrooge and their different attitudes to Christmas were shown well.

Something else that was really impressively implemented was the strong contrasting of Scrooge with the characters of Bob and his little son Tiny Tim: Scrooge’s aversion to Christmas, a time 'you have to pay bills without money' and aren't 'an hour richer', and the complete contrary, the Cratchit family, who are satisfied with what they have. Although their youngest son Tiny Tim is sick, they try to enjoy Christmas.

The acting of the minor parts was detailed, too, for example the way they captured the extreme diversity between the behaviour and language of the rich and the poor classes (the thieves and the two women who wanted to collect money for the poor).
In any case, the language was easy to understand as the actors had a really clear pronunciation and in addition were able to show what they wanted in their acting. The audience mainly comprised out of youths and seniors.
The music was quite interesting and showed up some variety, so it was not just spoken text but also singing.
The stage was a little boring, but it was convertible and practical, so it did not bother too much. In return the costumes were well made, they were creative and personalized each figure, especially the costumes of the different spirits. The ghost of Christmas past wore a shiny, transparent dress with a veil which signalized an illusion of the past, something that is over. The ghost of Christmas present wore a crimson cape with lush, colourful decoration; so this and the friendly, open- minded acting emphasized the festivity, happiness and the carefreeness of Christmas perfectly. Then the Ghost of Christmas yet to come, was put into action: it wore a black, long robe and had a spooky face that reminded of a grim reaper. It did not talk, and provided the mystery, danger and the uncertainty of the things in the future.
Finally a word about the narrator, who took part in the play: It was an unusual idea, but it worked and was a benefit to those who did not know the story before.

In my opinion the play was professionally performed as the actors knew what they were doing and how to get the message of the story across. I'd highly recommend it, because it was fun to watch, listen, and get touched by the end of the story: Scrooge's change of mind.

S.S., 10c

The Christmas story captivated the audience

Last Wednesday our class went to watch “A Christmas Carol” at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin-Tiergarten. The drama “A Christmas Carol” - based upon the homonymous story written by Charles Dickens in 1843 - is about a stingy and heartless man called Ebenezer Scrooge who thinks Christmas to be “Humbug” and just paying bills without money.

In the story Scrooge gets visited by three ghosts who take him on journeys to his own past, present and future to show him how he behaves to other people and what these other people think of him and his egoism in general. So as Scrooge is very distressed about what he has seen, he changes himself into a friendly, kind man who helps other people and shares everything he has got; he turns into a man who loves and has emotions.

In the drama we watched Charles Dickens was played as one of the characters, too, to narrate his own story and say a few words at the beginning and at the end. A good idea, I think, to give the story a framework.

The drama was performed by the American Drama Group, a group of eight actors, who all played several roles, because there were more characters than actors. They all did their job very well, they contrived to change their voices in the different roles and they had great facial expressions. Although they all were native speakers, I was able to understand nearly everything they said, so watching the spectacle was not boring because of difficult words or expressions, I could follow the play the whole time. Sometimes the actors sang a little. I think this was an additional element to the whole story that bred those Christmas feelings to the audience.

The actors wore very fitting costumes which brought out the actions accessorily. The costumes applied to the time and were not overdone, they made the story authentic.

The audience was captivated by the drama, maybe because the story was very touching. The actors succeeded in fascinating all the people watching it, because you always felt with the characters, for example “Tiny Tim”, the little son of Scrooge's clerk. Although I didn't like the actress who played Tiny Tim very much, I really liked Tiny Tim as a character. He cannot walk on his own and his family is so poor that his situation is quite hopeless because they cannot pay for an operation. But he is very cheerful and contented. Maybe especially that showed Scrooge how little important money and business and all these material things are, if you have people you love, who are there for you and help you in every situation. Scrooge learns how happy you are when you please someone. It is far more important in life than those material things. In the end Scrooge develops human feelings and turns into a generous man.

I think that is also the message of this Christmas story: to remind people of the real reason to celebrate Christmas. For a certain time, Christmas time, you must not think about money and work, you just have to open your heart for other people and be with the ones you love.

S.B., 10b

A realistic and authentic play in spite of sparse props

The theatre play “A Christmas Carol” is about the old man Ebenezer Scrooge, who is stingy and abrasive to all people. He hates Christmas and does not want to celebrate it with his family; he does not donate money for poor people and only unwillingly allows his clerk Bob Cratchit to stay at home with his family at Christmas.  But in the night before Christmas the ghost of his dead business partner Marley visits him. He warns Scrooge not to be so stingy and heartless in the future and announces three other ghosts: the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The three ghosts appear successively and travel with Scrooge into the past, present and future. In the past he sees how he parted from his girlfriend, because he loved only the money; in the present he sees Bob Cratchit’s poor family, who cheerfully revel Christmas with their ill son Tiny Tim anyway. Scrooge learns that Tiny Tim will die and so will he, but nobody will miss him. His travels change him and he becomes a better person.

The theatre play began with a narrator, who was Charles Dickens. He introduced the play and explained where and when the story took place, which was better for people in the audience who did not know the plot. The audience was our age for the most part. There were only seven actors, who played different roles including a door, and also were in charge of the music and sound effects and singing. They spoke clear English and changed their accent, for example when they played a thief or a rich person, which made the theatre play more realistic and authentic. But the props were the same all the time, which was sometimes a little confusing. In return all characters had their own costume, which was realistic again and made it easier for us to discern them.
At the end of the theatre play the narrator, Charles Dickens, addressed the audience and asked us to wish our neighbours a Merry Christmas.

Dickens' message and the interpretation slightly drifted apart

The interpretation of Charles Dickens' short story "A Christmas Carol" by The American Drama Group Europe gives the audience a new view to the story. The drama group tours around Germany and visited Berlin on the 24^th November, when I saw the play.

First I want to introduce you to the main characters and their theatrical performance. Let us begin with the main role, the one of the mercenary and heartless old man Ebeneezer Scrooge. Scrooge was played by an old man who was able to give us a respectful impression about Scrooge. He used his mimic to show his acrimony and did it very well, as other spectators told me later as well. But there also were Bob Cratchit and his disabled son called Tiny Tim. They showed us the feeling of a good family. Happiness reached us the entire play, although the Cratchits were very poor. But the two actors did it in different ways. Bob could show multiple feelings. He was quite authentic and full of humour when he was in contact with the old Scrooge. In contrast to this very well played role there is the actor of "Tiny Tim". The woman who played him had to show us an ill boy, but full of vitality. This happiness did not reach everyone. The actor wanted to present these characteristics to us with effusive actions, but it was too much over the top. Emphasizing the language did not make it better. Another actor played the part of Charles Dickens himself. He introduced us to the main characters and to the 19th century. He also used gesticulation to include the audience. He did this very well and the audience felt involved. The ghosts were also included as real actors. They acted in the way Dickens wrote and there were no differences. But only two ghosts could really convince me. The ghost of the Christmas Present overacted too much. He wore a Santa Clause costume with some glitter on his jacket. The spirit spoke very inordinately, which was also criticized by some other viewers.

All the actors played multiple roles. For example, the actor of Charles Dickens and Bob Cratchit was the same. Although the change of the role had to be very fast, almost all actors could give us the feeling of an authentic play. This feeling was also intensified by the costumes. The costumes all matched the apparel of the 19th century. Especially the costumes of the female actors wearing wide and long skirts in dark colours were really realistic.

In addition, a nice feature was applied, too. The differences of the social classes you could also hear by the different accents that were spoken by the lowest class including the burglars and very poor people in contrast to the middle class celebrating Christmas at Fred’s home.

They all acted on only one stage. My personal feeling about this type of acting is that I need multiple changes on the platform, if the scene changes, too. This was completely not the case in the entire play. So only a few changes were done on the stage, for example, in the forth stave the gravestone was simply made of the mattress of Scrooge's bed.
Humour was expressed through quite simple and small gestures. During the whole play the door of Scrooge's house was an important element of this humour. The door was played by a man stretching out his arm. He jarred and creaked until Scrooge got oil, supplied by the door itself, and repaired it - the whole audience laughed. These little gags and jokes accompanied the whole story.

I think the director of the play concentrated more on the content of Christmas than on the main message of the real story. I think the real story tells us the two messages. Ignorance and Want are two important elements and you have to keep the right balance, to not get stingy or very poor. It tells us to keep a heart for other people, to help them and to realize: "Hey, there are also other people around me!" So I think the main message and the interpretation of the story slightly drifted apart. But anyway, the performance of the actors was absolutely great. The little gags and the general view the director's interpretation and realization made this stage play a wonderful experience.

M.M., 10c

The play conveys the Christmas Spirit

On Wednesday, the 24th of November, my class visited the play “A Christmas Carol“, which originally is a book by Charles Dickens. At the beginning, Charles Dickens himself introduced us to the 19^th century and guided us through the story, a nice idea. He also said a few words at the end, so the play had a frame.

All the actors, equipped with contemporary 19th century costumes, played many different characters, but that didn’t bother me. Watching them slipping into different roles, which they played convincingly, was interesting. The performers were very well chosen, especially Scrooge’s actor, who looked and behaved just like you would imagine him to.

The actors spoke an easily understandable, mostly British English. The director used language for pointing out the figures’ social background, for example the thieves and the upper-class money collectors had a different accent.

But what I did not like was Marley’s behaviour and appearance. In contrast to the Christmas ghosts he looked quite ridiculous with his Halloween mask and plastic chains. On the other hand, I liked that the actors sang a lot. It fits to the play’s name and to Christmas itself, because you always think of carols and songs when you’re thinking of Christmas. The stage design was kept simple and multifunctional, so the breaks for carrying out modifications were short.

There also were some interesting and funny ideas in the play, for example a door played by a man, or the fact that the actors did not play their roles yet in the first scene, they were just collecting their props and spreading a good mood.

The play had a nice end. Charles Dickens spoke to the audience and asked the people to wish their neighbours a Merry Christmas.

All in all I think that the play transported the story’s message, how important love and generosity is and that money alone does not make people happy, very well, and I definitely recommend a visit.

V.W., 10b

The versatility of the actors was convincing

After reading some parts of the story by Charles Dickens’ novel “A Christmas Carol” written in 1843, we visited the theatre with our class and watched the play.
In my opinion the actors were well chosen, convincing and very talented, especially Scrooge. First Scrooge is the synonym for meanness and then he goes through a change. The actor of Scrooge managed this very well by using very good gestures and a special voice. The actor of Scrooge is also the most prominent person in this play and his colleague think it is an honour to work with him.
What I also noticed is that there were fewer actors than roles. So the actors had to play different roles by constantly changing their costumes. For example, Belle also played Fred’s wife, Fred also played young Scrooge on the journey to the past and the narrator also played Bob Cratchit. I believe one can say this changing of their roles is convincing, because you realize very easily who is who.
It made a positive impression on me that there was a narrator, framing the story. He introduced the story at the beginning, appeared in the middle in scenes which cannot be played and said goodbye at the end.
With reference to the music I want to say that I think there is a relation between the title of the story “A Christmas CAROL” (“carol” corresponding to “song”) and the singing of the actors. So one can say it fits. But despite this relation, in my view, the music was a bit too loud.
Even if I do not speak English fluently, I could understand nearly everything. In the play a lot of quotations of the book were used, for example: “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live Christmas in the Past, the Present, and the Future.”
The actors were native speakers, but were speaking different English. The upper class, for example the two ladies, collecting money for the poor, were speaking educated, proper English and the poor people, for example the thieves, were speaking simple English.
The props and the set were made with simplicity, for example the bedroom never changed. The costumes of the actors fitted well to the time of the 19^th century and were not exaggerated.

Personally, I think the message of this story should express that life is not only dealing with money, but particularly with love and generosity. All in all I liked the production of the story “A Christmas Carol” and it was worth watching it.

V.B., 10b

An impressive play of naturalness and simplicity

When the play begins and the old man puts on his glasses, his facial expression changes. His eyes narrow, his mouth becomes small and then he looks at you spitting out one word: “Humbug”. “Humbug” is what the stingy and heartless pawnbroker Ebenezer Scrooge calls Christmas. The old man in Charles Dickens' novella “A Christmas carol” cares for nobody and nothing but money, until he is visited by three ghosts changing his life forever.

The traditional Christmas story was adapted to the stage in the “Akademie der Künste Berlin” by the American Drama Group Europe this year in the pre- Christmas period.

But how can you realize a story going into great detail and not disappoint the expectations of the reader without huge costs at the same time? In my opinion the ADG succeeded in answering this question by their play:  A modest setting letting one’s imagination run wild, a handful of actors among them the famous J. C. Hoyt dressed in simple and adequate costumes resembling the 19^th century clothing and a brilliant narration told in easily comprehensible words.

The entry of Charles Dickens introducing and concluding the play as a narrator established the framework, while five English native speakers changing their parts to bring to life the many Dickensian characters filled the theatre with their words, their laughter, their crying and even their singing.

The audience consisting mostly of school classes was pleased by the interpretation of the well-known figures like Scrooges' nephew Fred and his clerk Bob Cratchit with his poor family, but thrilled by the excellent performance of Scrooge played by J.C. Hoyt, who has been playing the embittered pawnbroker’s part for many years.

Hoyt implemented Scrooge’s transformation from a miserly bean counter into a cheerful and generous man so authentically, that not only he himself, but every spectator became fraught with the spirit of Christmas, when finally the audience was requested to wish each other a “Merry Christmas” in the famous words of Tiny Tim: “God bless us all, everyone!”

Pre-Christmas Feeling Guaranteed

The play “A Christmas Carol” is based on the novel by Charles Dickens written in 1843. It is about the stingy, old and heartless man Scrooge, who becomes a good and friendly man with the help of the three Christmas spirits. They show him, each of them in his own way, the poorness and illness of other people and how he will die as a lonely and hated man, if he does not change his life.

In the play, almost all actors were great, especially the one who played Scrooge. He fantastically played this stingy and cold-hearted man, who thinks that Christmas is humbug, and the next moment he played an old man who is very sad, who lost his first big love and who feels lonely in the world, but who suppresses his feelings. One could see that he and his colleagues love acting and liked to show us their interpretation of “A Christmas Carol”. The only character that was a wrong cast was the actress who played Tiny Tim, the son of Bob Cratchit. Tiny Tim is a poor and ill boy, but the actress was not able to make us believe that. It is a fact that a poor and ill boy is not chubby-cheeked and happy as she was. The other actors played their roles very authentically and not only the rich cold-hearted Scrooge was a stock character. For example, his nephew or his clerk were “the poor, but happier than the rich” characters. Altogether they were great and for those spectators who did not know Dickens' story, it was easy to understand it, especially because of the role of the narrator, Charles Dickens himself. In his introduction he included the audience to his play by asking the spectators, which of his books they knew. Wishing them a Merry Christmas by saying ”Frohe Weihnachten!”, he ended the play. All in all, it was easy to understand the story and the message that people who are rich should help people who are in need.

In the whole play the scenery was simple. In the background there was the bedroom of Scrooge and behind it a huge picture of London at night. His office was on the right side of the foreground and the left side was an empty space of changing function. By using a lot of simple props they stimulated the imagination of the spectators. The costumes of the actors were all very good, especially the costumes of the three spirits. Their outfit characterized the ghosts: The second ghost wore a colourful, glittering Christmas robe and showed in this way his friendly and funny character. The third ghost, who looked like the Grim Reaper, showed in this way how dangerous he was.

A successful adaptation of Dickens' story

The story “A Christmas Carol” is one of the best known stories of Charles Dickens and therefore is often played at the theatre, especially at Christmas time. It is about stingy Scrooge, who hates Christmas, because he loses his money and behaves very sulkily. So he gets visits of three ghosts, which show him his past, the present and his possible future.

During the visits Scrooge seems to be scared and intimidated, mainly by the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, because he realizes that he is very lonely and nobody would care, if he died. Thereupon Scrooge begins to change his complete life and even begins to care for Christmas and other people who do not own as much money as he does.

The American Drama Group Europe show us “A Christmas Carol” in form of a theatre play lasting for two hours particularly staged for school groups. But how do they implement the story as a play?

First of all, the acting of the main character Scrooge is very impressive, because the actor has the ability to switch from one extreme facial expression into another in a short time and plays very convincingly. The actor of Charles Dickens, the narrator, is also well chosen. He not only introduces us into the story by telling us about the author and the play in general, but also makes the audience laugh and involves it, for example by telling us to wish our neighbours a Merry Christmas at the end of the play. To me the other actors are not quite as good, for example the woman who plays Tiny Tim, the son of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s employee. I think that this role was very not too successful. Instead of playing the role of a poor, innocent, pure and sick cripple, who is after all very grateful and should arouse compassion, her acting appears to be over the top and in this way unrealistic and ridiculous, although Tiny Tim is a very important role as he has he the last words of the whole play.

The language of the play is easy to understand, very clear and loud enough. Besides the social class differences are readily identifiable. The thieves use a dialect belonging to the lower classes, while the two ladies who want to collect money for poor people, express that they had a good education and are people who do not have to work. The singing is a little bit annoying and out of place, because it is, in my opinion, unprofessional and inappropriate. The music in the background, however, is very suitable.

To my mind the three ghosts are very successful, too. While the first one is dressed in white and has a soft and gentle woman’s voice, the second one wears a green robe and is dressed with a kind of glitter and funny things, the third ghost is completely covered with a black piece of cloth, so that just his hand is visible. These costumes show the difference between the ghosts very well and fit to the story of Charles Dickens. In most cases the play also sticks to the original of Charles Dickens and does not invent anything new, which, as far as I can see, is good.

The props are also good, particularly a lighted candle, which the narrator is holding during his talk until he blows it out. Because it lit up the stage, spreads comfort and it dovetails nicely with the narrator’s role. Furthermore a door is played by a man, which is a little joke, because the door begins to creak when Scrooge opens it. So the play tries to entertain the audience by jokes sometimes, too.

All in all I can say that I liked the play, because I liked most of the actors, above all Scrooge and the narrator as well as the whole interpretation of the play. Even if you know the whole story well, the play does not bore you. So I can honestly recommend this play to everybody.

A.D., 10c