Celebrate the spirit of Christmas at the world premiere of shake & stir theatre co’s brand new theatre production of Charles Dickens’ treasured ‘A Christmas Carol’.
Directed by award-winning Michael Futcher and adapted for stage by co-Artistic Director for shake & stir theatre co, Nelle Lee, audiences can expect a sumptuous and surprising reimagining of Dickens’ classic story of compassion, forgiveness and redemption.Award-winning Brisbane-based artist and cast member Lucas Stibbard, who is making his shake & stir debut, says, “Michael Futcher, who’s worked with shake & stir before with ‘Dracula’ and ‘Animal Farm’, is so great at doing creative, playful, beautiful, generous storytelling by an ensemble of people who take on characters and switch roles and [in doing so] celebrate the theatricality of this story, which is great given that there’s such an amazing big story to begin with.”
The tale begins on a cold and gloomy Christmas Eve. Ebenezer Scrooge is spending his evening hunched over his coals, counting his fortune and cursing the happiness of others. After a ghostly night of unexpected visitors, each with an important lesson for Scrooge direct from the grave, Scrooge awakens on Christmas Day with a whole new outlook on life.
“The transformation of Scrooge and his journey through that and where that leads into is a beautiful thing and, I think, a really important message, because it also tells us that deep down we are all capable of change, which I think is an incredibly important thing to know in a time when everything seems to be inevitable and quite depressing,” Lucas says.
Acclaimed Brisbane actor Eugene Gilfedder will star as Scrooge alongside a stellar cast including Ross Balbuziente, Salliana Campbell, Arnijka Larcombe-Weate, Nelle Lee, Bryan Probets, Nick Skubij and Lucas.
“It’s a large cast, but within that there is also that demand for storytelling virtuosity that will have all of us taking on different roles and playing different characters which is going to be great. I’m actually really excited.”
Hailed as one of Dickens’ most popular pieces of fiction, ‘A Christmas Carol’ remains one of the longest-running, most-adapted and most-relevant holiday tales, with The Muppets even performing a feature-length adaptation of the book.
“I’m following in the footsteps of Kermit the Frog, which, you know, is mildly terrifying; big flippers to fill,” Lucas laughs. He plays Scrooge’s abused, underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit who has come to symbolise poor working conditions; as well as Fezziwig, the jovial merchant with whom the young Scrooge apprenticed, and who appears in the one happy memory of Christmas Past.
“Bob Cratchit is a kind and humble man who is trying to do his best in a world that is filled with a whole lot of cruelty,” Lucas explains. “I think we can all find something in that, and I’ve just tried to find my way through that and try to understand what it is and how it works for me.
“Funnily enough, I have spent my working life in the theatre which is about trying to celebrate generosity, kindness, stories and communality. People don’t go into theatre to make millions or become famous, so there is that certain level of learning to have gratitude and to celebrate what you’ve got.”
Featuring live musicians, yuletide carolling, lavish costumes and of course, snow, ‘A Christmas Carol’ will be a visual feast with set design by Josh McIntosh and video design by Craig Wilkinson. The production will also include a new atmospheric composition from composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Salliana Campbell (‘The Switch’, ‘Shotgun Shirleys’).
Discussing the costume and set design, Lucas says, “I had a look through the sketches the other day and was really excited. The entire production is going to have a big, solid physical design to it, including the sumptuous costumes and the fabulous presence on stage. But then also on top of that it’s got this really strong audio visual element, and then all the light and music as well and singing from all of us which I’m quite excited to share.”
The production’s atmospheric, monochromatic trailer captures Scrooge’s reaction to a visit by a ghost of Christmas, with a close up of Eugene Gilfedder conveying fear, awe, wonder and finally delight.
“We are really interested in building something that manages to actually do everything that that story does, and one of the moods that the story has in it is a little bit of excitement and a little bit of thrill, but it’s also a family story,” Lucas says.
“[The show] has been made to be for everybody from eight upwards, so you can safely come as a family and enjoy it. It’s not going to be overly terrifying or overtly scary so much as it's going to have moments of thrilling fun in it that are really delicious and delightful to enjoy.”
The book and its timeless reminder to honour the spirit of Christmas and remember those less fortunate are as relevant today as in 1843 when Dickens put pen to paper.
“Dickens was coming out of a period where industrialisation and the shift that was happening actually really altered the way we deal with all of the world and workers within it,” Lucas says. “This gets thrown up in the play itself by the character Fezziwig, and the fact that he was the guy who trained Scrooge and Fezziwig is the opposite of Scrooge. He is incredibly generous and convivial in his treatment of the people that he works with, and then that kind of shifts towards mechanisation and the brutality of what happened that changed the world.
“And that’s one of the themes that ‘A Christmas Carol’ is about. It’s about not closing ourselves off to the danger of a close-minded, ‘I am okay. You’re all going to do alright for yourselves’ world which is something that we are suffering from so heavily at this moment. There’s something really important about trying to remind people of everything beyond that, and the fact that we are all in this together.”
Theatre productions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ are brought to life at Christmas time throughout the world, and Lucas would love to see the show become a tradition for Brisbane audiences.
“Re-reading ‘A Christmas Carol’ as an adult, I really appreciated its messages about generosity and kindness, and celebrating a really beautiful meaning around Christmas,” he reflects.
“As an adult, I’d never really been a Christmas person until I had a child. I’m a relatively new father, I have a three-year-old son, and I have started seeing Christmas again through his eyes; the wonder of that time of year and appreciating what it means in terms of family and groups.
“And that’s one of the things that I really want this show to be, [and that is] something that can grow and become a yearly thing that people do, and for families to be able to do that and celebrate it and celebrate being with other families and talking about Christmas and joy and love.”
