Stage adaptations of Charles Dickens鈥� short novel 鈥淎 Christmas Carol鈥� are typically the most-performed shows in the U.S. holiday season. They range from a one-man play to the lavish musical that has traveled to the Fabulous Fox Theatre for 28 engagements, dating back to 1982.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Rep announced plans to start a tradition this year with annual productions of a new adaptation.
Such performances form a reliable holiday tradition for many people.
The pandemic makes it impossible to hold them safely this year. Yet, some St. Louis organizations are finding ways to tailor Dickens鈥� story for these times and bring it to the public in a safe way.
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and translated the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser who hates Christmas but is persuaded to change his ways, . Metro Theater Company for a web stream.
There鈥檚 no grand spectacle onstage at the Fox this year, but the public may attend populated by characters from the story, who dramatize a loose version of it.
In the process, some say they are helping to fill a community need that鈥檚 larger than just the hole in a theater鈥檚 season schedule.
鈥淪o many of the traditions, the shows, the gatherings, the celebrations that make this time of year special aren鈥檛 going to be possible this year,鈥� said Tom Ridgely, producing artistic director of St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. 鈥淲e wanted to have this sense of ritual that, even though you wouldn't be able to do this the way you normally would 鈥� at the Fox or wherever you鈥檇 usually see 鈥楢 Christmas Carol鈥� 鈥� that there would be a way to honor the tradition.鈥�
The festival鈥檚 collaboration with Painted Black STL yielded 22 storefront art installations in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis. They reimagine the story, largely from the perspective of Black artists and other artists of color.
To illustrate the part of the story in which Scrooge is shown examples of sharing and good cheer around the world, Charlie Tatum created a display featuring a dinner table set for essential workers. Surgical masks are strewn over a Christmas tree. A large screen hangs above, suggesting the way many people have invited others into their homes during the pandemic through video calls.
It isn鈥檛 the story of 鈥淎 Christmas Carol鈥� as folks are used to experiencing it. But it may be familiar enough to help fill a need for community traditions during a holiday season that has been transformed by the coronavirus.
鈥淭aking refuge in those rituals and repeating the same stories every year reconfirm normalcy,鈥� said , a professor at Washington University who has studied the ways artists make new work in response to calamity 鈥� like the spread of plague. 鈥淭hey reconfirm the cyclical nature of this time, that things are going to come back to normal.鈥�
The new offering at the Fox, dubbed 鈥淎 Dickens of a Tour,鈥� is not a staged production of the story. But the chance to do something 鈥� anything 鈥� like a performance in that space can offer a taste of pre-pandemic times.
鈥淚 got a little emotional,鈥� theater artist said of his first visit inside the Fox since it closed in March to prevent spread of the virus at shows there. Teeter has the unusual title of artistic director of a tour.
鈥淚 said, I鈥檓 standing on a stage right now when so many of my colleagues can鈥檛 be in a theater. I鈥檓 sorry, I have to take a breath here because I鈥檓 overwhelmed,鈥� said Teeter, who is also head of the musical theater department at Webster University. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect it, but it really hit me like a ton of bricks.鈥�
A reading of 鈥淎 Christmas Carol鈥� newly organized by Metro Theater Company looks like a lot of pandemic-era theater 鈥� it鈥檚 composed of short videos that participants shot in their homes. But it also harkens back to the tradition of public readings from the book, something Dickens did for many years.
The theater is asking people to preregister for streams of the production on Thursday and Sunday. It has received reservations from virtual audience members in 15 states plus the United Kingdom, emeritus board member Marcia Kerz said. 鈥淭he way we鈥檙e celebrating the holidays this year is dramatically different from the way we鈥檝e celebrated them in the past,鈥� she said.
The positive response from audience members 鈥� and readers, dozens of whom participated 鈥� suggests the importance of preserving at least one holiday ritual, even in altered form.
鈥淚 think it shows the incredible need that families have to move away from what鈥檚 happening around us and enjoy something together as a family,鈥� Kerz said.
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