_{Kareem Bandealy as Jacob Marley and Larry Yando as Ebenezer Scrooge in Goodman Theatre’s A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Tom Creamer. Photo: Liz Lauren} 

This review is contributed by Mads Golding, a playwright, writer, and independent scholar who focuses on Charles Dickens and the long 19th century.

The Goodman Theatre’s 2023 production of A Christmas Carol is nothing short of an effervescent delight. This was The Goodman’s 46^th production of A Christmas Carol, with Larry Yando playing the titular role of Ebenezer Scrooge for the 16^th year in a row.  

Tom Creamer’s script is adapted from the original novella and strikes the perfect balance between heartwarming Christmas cheer and gothic horror to remind the audience of the story’s moral stakes. Yando’s performance as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is by turns hilarious, horrifying, and captivating. Rather than taking the easy route of relying upon the novella’s well-known reputation, the creative team blended a gothic, at times grotesque set with physical comedy to reveal a deep understanding of comic gems present throughout the script while maintaining the moral backbone of the play.  

Dickens is famous for his habit of writing “streaky bacon,” a writing technique that uses tragedy and comedy in very rapid succession to keep the reader entertained while delivering an important social or ethical message. A Christmas Carol is full of examples of “streaky bacon.” Yando’s dry, understated delivery makes for excellent natural moments that offset the melodramatic atmosphere, and his comic physicality rendered Scrooge incredibly funny and human even in the darkest moments, particularly during Jacob Marely’s exit. Marley leaves Scrooge in a well-lit bedroom, waiting for the first spirit to visit him. Yando stands up and considers asking the ghost to tell him exactly when he can expect the first spirit but then decides it’s not worth the conversation. Yando’s dismissive hand gestures, paired with the bright lighting, made it possible for him to play to the comic scene as if Scrooge were simply talking to a clerk instead of a ghost, which elicited peals of laughter from the audience. Scrooge then returned to his seat and remained there for about ten seconds before sticking his head between his legs to look under the chair for the next ghost and then behind the drapes, only to give up and get back into bed. The transition from Scrooge’s fear of Marley to the boredom of waiting for the next spirit helped to vary the pace of the play instead of getting bogged down by pathos.  

It would be all too easy to play Scrooge as a puritanical villain whose moral compass is ultimately realigned by fear rather than epiphany, but Yando keeps the audience on his side by showing Scrooge’s human side consistently throughout the first act. Yando provides glimpses of the man who became a miser and learns that monsters are not made overnight. Instead, the audience is asked to examine their own attitude to time, wealth, and the intrinsic link between the two during our short stay on this earth. 

“Ghost of Christmas Future: ‘I must show you what things that will happen if circumstances remain as they are. We must move quickly, I leave you within the hour.’

Scrooge: ‘Are spirits lives so short?’

Ghost of Christmas Future: ‘Whose is not?'”

Dickens is known for creating caricatures: characters whose features are overemphasized for dramatic or comic effect, often to the point of grotesqueness. Todd Rosenthal’s set design leaned into the magical realism of the script. In a gloriously funny marriage of stagecraft and physical comedy, Scrooge awoke in a well-lit bedroom entirely covered in ivy, courtesy, of course, of the Ghost of Christmas Present. Director Jessica Thebus and assistant director Jamal Howard managed to generate moments of unexpected comic gold through physical comedy, which allowed Scrooge’s playful side to emerge in Act Two without compromising the integrity of the script. I had the pleasure of chatting with the assistant director, Jamal Howard, whose insight into the production was invaluable. 

A Christmas Carol is ultimately a story of redemption. We are presented with a villain who has a change of heart, and then we get to witness the social and emotional payoff for changed behavior. In the play, Scrooge wakes up and immediately buys the largest turkey from the town butcher and sends it to the Cratchit family. Yando’s physical reaction to doing something selfless looked almost as if he were having a stroke. Watching Scrooge get physically overwhelmed by positive emotion was one of the funniest points in the evening.  Instead of ending with Scrooge’s epiphany, we get to see the positive results of changed behavior, which then, hopefully, motivates the audience to examine their own biases. In a refreshing take on the script, Howard pointed out that the first act of the show reveals that Scrooge knew what warmth and charity looked like as a young man. Consequently, his loss smarts more as he pulls away from his community, knowing exactly what he’s losing but choosing to follow the money anyway. 

According to Howard: “A Christmas Carol attracts a diverse crowd; not necessarily history enthusiasts or period drama fans, but people looking for a familiar story with a touch of escapism and magic. This means that it’s crucial to keep the script fresh and relevant. While period-specific language and costuming can transport the audience back in time, it can also run the risk of feeling dated.” Howard and Thebus deftly avoided this by forgoing unnecessary sentiment and injecting humor where the audience least expected it. The laughter was often bitter-sweet. Indeed, both the script and novella are designed to remind Christmas Carol audiences and readers of their own capacity for charity. It’s not enough to simply enjoy the show; ideally, audiences will be inspired to perform their own acts of service. Theatre is a tool for social good as much as it is a form of entertainment.  

We often think of A Christmas Carol as a moral story about a man who learns to share his wealth under psychological duress, but this production offers a new perspective and invites us to consider what Scrooge lost when he found himself isolated from his community. In keeping with Dickens’s spirit of charity, The Goodman partnered with Latino Policy Forum, which provides support for refugees and asylum seekers in Chicago. Scrooge’s story isn’t just a warning about the dangers of greed and catastrophic narrowmindedness, it’s a fable about one man’s journey out of social and emotional isolation back into the warm embrace of his community. 

Works Cited

Creamer, Tom. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, adapted for the stage. 2023.

Golding, Mads. Interview with Jamal Howard. Dec 5. 2023