Where better in Toronto to do a site specific version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol than Campbell House (built 1822)?  Apparently The Three Ships Collective and Soup Can Theatre have been doing such a show for five years but it had never appeared on my radar until this year despite having seen and enjoyed other Soup Can shows.  So last night I went.

It’s one of those shows that moves the actors and audience from room to room as the action progresses which was managed efficiently by an enormously tale chain draped Jacob Marley (Nicholas Eddie) with just a touch of lugubrious humour.  The action follows the well known story, adapted by Justin Haigh, pretty closely but very effectively.  It’s anchored by a splendid performance by Thomas Gough as Ebenezer Scrooge.  It works because it’s superficially gentlemanly which makes the meanness all the more striking.  It’s very nuanced too.  Gesture and diction are just right and his timing is impeccable.

The ghosts are very effective.  Manon Ens-Lapointe is a rather pre-Raphaelite Ghost of Christmas Past; floating through a couple of quite distressing scenes and doubling as a violinist.  (There are actually quite a few musical jokes if one keeps one’s ears tuned).  Jonnie Lombard doubles as the other two ghosts; splendidly drunk and boisterous as Christmas Present and black veiled and sepulchral as Christmas Yet To Come.  .Jesse Nerenberg is a sympathetic Bob Cratchit.  He does a good job of portraying Cratchit’s essentially false optimism.  It’s hard to play a character pretending.  The rest of the cast play multiple roles; assorted Cratchits, Scrooges and hangers on, most effectively.  It’s not all doom and gloom either.  There’s a very lively Christmas party at the Fezziwigs with slightly risqué comic songs and a rousing sing song at the end.

There’s a lot of attention to detail.  Somebody has done a lot of work on the accents.  The costuming (Rose Tavormina) is detailed and subtly indicative of station.  Direction (Sare Thorpe) is careful and makes clever use of the space.   One might expect A Christmas Carol to be too familiar to be really affecting but there’s enough in this show to touch the most Scrooge-like heart.  I’d strongly recommend seeing it if the rest of the run were not already sold out.  It will probably be back next year though.

Photo credits: Laura Dittmann