This week, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison begins a month long run of the Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. This offering is the final one for the 2011 Season. The first show will be on Thursday, December 1 and continue through January 1, 2012. This version features a cast of nine actors playing more than 50 roles including some of literature’s most beloved characters.
The play was adapted for the stage by Neil Bartlett and is directed by Bonnie Monte. Bartlett’s A Christmas Carol contains only Dickens’ own words. “I wanted to do it using Dickens’ words, and nothing but,” Bartlett reports. “Dickens himself prompted this decision; after all, he wrote the story not just to be read, but to be read out loud for an audience. His words don’t describe; they enact.” Bartlett also has included spoken and sung Victorian carols delivered a cappella throughout the play.
The Bartlett version of A Christmas Carol was previously performed at the NJ Shakespeare Theatre in 2007. However, Ms. Monte has created a new incarnation of her acclaimed production with a totally redesigned visual landscape.
This play follows a highly successful run at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey of To Kill A Mockingbird, which played its final performance on November 20. The show broke all-time box-office records.. More than 12,500 subscribers, single ticket buyers and students filled the 308-seat F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre to see the stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s beloved novel, surpassing the Theatre’s 2004 production of Macbeth to become the new record-holder.
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Main Stage, the 308-seat F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, is conveniently located in Madison at 36 Madison Avenue (Route 124) at Lancaster Road (on the DrewUniversity campus), just minutes from Routes 287, 78 and 10. Parking is free. For tickets or more information, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.
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