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12/05/2018 07:00 AMYou may think you know the story of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, but rest assured there’s always a unique twist to any classic play when it’s performed by Branford High School (BHS) Dramat, led by founder/director Maria Ogren.
A talented group of some 30 cast, crew, choir singers, and even five children have been rehearsing with the high school players for months to bring three performances of A Christmas Carol to town on Thursday, Dec. 6, Friday, Dec. 7, and Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cathyann Roding Auditorium at BHS.
Filled with talented BHS players, the production also includes Victorian costumes and sets to help tell a story that’s old and new. Although its based on Dickens’s 1843 novella, this version of A Christmas Carol is an adaption co-written by Ogren and Chris Lemieux. Lemieux is a theater professional and a BHS fall play/spring musical alumnus.
“When Chris suggested we adapt a Dickens novel, this one is, of course, perfect,” said Ogren. “Not only is it Christmas time, but the ideas contained within it are so important in a world where children really are hungry, where people really are hurting, where these things have to be addressed. It’s a play for a troubled world.”
Plot twists emerge from the start, as Ogren and Lemieux have developed the storyline of Tiny Tim (played by Julian Clarke-Dixon) into his adult life, where he is now a father to his own little boy, Ben (Natalia Lucero) named for Tim’s benefactor, Ebenezer Scrooge (Adam Jackson). In telling his son the important story of Scrooge’s impact on their lives, Tim introduces the audience to the classic tale of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.
Ogren, who has been directing BHS fall plays since 1972, is continuing the work as a newly retired AP English teacher who completed her career at BHS in June, 2018. She said adapting the play was an exercise in inspiration for herself and Lemieux, allowing them to address some unanswered questions in the story crafted by Dickens.
For example, while Dickens tells of Scrooge’s early years, the famed author left a bit of a gap when it came to explaining the dramatic change that formed his adult years, said Ogren.
“Jacob Marley comes into his life. We don’t see it in the Dickens novel, but we think it’s important, Chris and I, because we think it explains the change that takes place in Ebenezer. This also gives Jacob Marley the motivation for coming to save Scrooge,” said Ogren.
In the BHS production, Charles Doyle plays Marley/Marley’s Ghost.
The co-writers also locked on to how, at the end of the original story, Dickens noted that Tiny Tim lived on, with Scrooge becoming almost like a second father.
“So Tiny Tim must have grown up, and he must have a history,” said Ogren. “It’s one of those English teacher things, where you say, ‘What do you think happens next?’ And so, we get a chance to do that.”
The BHS production includes several other explorations of the beloved holiday tale, from interesting character treatments to an ensemble of choristers adding some spirited Christmas carols to the show. Once again supporting the students in their performances is returning assistant director, BHS English teacher John Matthiessen. Ogren also thanked BHS arts supporter Steve Cudgma for his assistance with set design building and painting, as well as BHS administrative staff member Jean Brookman for designing and painting additional set pieces to add to the scenery.
BHS Dramat presents A Christmas Carol—An Adaptation of the Charles Dickens Novel by Maria Ogren and Chris Lemieux during three performances Thursday, Dec. 6, Friday, Dec. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cathyann Roding Auditorium at Branford High School, 185 East Main Street. Tickets, $8 adults, $5 students, are available at the door on show nights. All tickets are general seating.