By Aida Toro —
When the holidays are approaching, entertainment rises as well. Throughout Christmas time, there are tree lightings, toy drives, and Christmas music. One of the media’s most popular forms of entertainment for the holidays is Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” This year, it will be aired at New Jersey City University. Marketing Director of the Shakespeare Actor Company, Peter Galman, is the promoter of the play at NJCU.
“We are the Actor Shakespeare Company, We have a show at NJCU every year,” says Galman.
A Christmas Carol is a novel by Charles Dickens which was first published in 1843. The tale takes place in London, England, in which Ebenezer Scrooge, a selfish and snobby business man does not believe in the Christmas spirit. Throughout the tale, three ghosts visit Scrooge in order to make him believe in Christmas: The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Afterwards, Scrooge learns a couple of lessons and results in believing in Christmas. With this being the actual story of the Christmas Carol, the play that the Shakespeare Actor Company is launching at NJCU is a tad bit different.
Galman says, “This is our first holiday show. What makes this show special is that it is only performed by one actor.”
The play is usually performed by many actors, not just one. However, Galman provided some fun facts on why this version of “A Christmas Carol” is a one man show. The play is based on the solo acting adaptation of the Dicken’s Christmas Carol by Greg Oliver Bodine. Although Bodine performed this one-man act before, the solo acts will be performed by the Actor Shakespeare Company’s resident artist, Colin Ryan.
“The actor is telling the story of the Christmas Carol as the narrator himself, which is Charles Dickens. He does story telling which he is immersed into each character, like any good story teller would do”, said Galman.
Not only is “A Christmas Carol” being performed, but so is “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by Dylan Thomas. The poem is an anecdotal retelling of Christmas from the view of a young child and is a romanticized version of the past Christmases, which portrayed a nostalgic and simpler time.
“The poem is very unique and universal due to the fact that it shows the audience that Christmas is a time about coming home to family and mainly focuses on children. It also discusses on how much it snows and that Christmas is always white, describing the effect that snow has on people. Christmas, snow, and family, are a good way to warm the audience up for the Christmas Carol,” says Galman.
The first piece of this one man show will be Dylan’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” which will run for 20 minutes followed by Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” that will run for an hour and 20 minutes. The show will be in the West Side Theatre on the dates of December 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, and 18.
Galman says, “We are offering tickets to NJCU Students for only $10 and a 50 percent discount for six or more students.
