On December 3rd I went to see manual cinema’s production of Christmas Carol at Writer’s Theatre. This play is different than other plays because it is mostly all puppets! And I don't mean like marionettes but I mean kind of like shadow puppets or paper puppets. This play is also different because it has a second plot along with the classic Christmas Carol storyline, which I like because it adds more to the story. I don't think I need to tell you the summary of A Christmas carol because basically EVERYONE knows the story. But in case you don't, grunt guy Ebeneezer scrooge is very mean and lacks Christmas spirit. So he gets haunted by the 3 Christmas ghosts who take him through his past, present, and future from other Christmases to help him change his ways. But the plot of the side play is that uncle joe used to do a Christmas carol puppet show every year. But then he dies during covid, so his not-very Christmasy wife (played by LaKecia Harris) has to perform it on zoom. (This takes place in 2020) Then SHE gets haunted by the ghosts and has to keep serving the puppet show while sometimes pausing to talk about her relationship with Joe.
The puppetry design (Drew Dir) and execution for this were INSANE. I don’t even understand how they could accomplish something that fast-paced! They had to run back and forth, get timing PERFECTLY, and craziest of all, it was all done by PAPER or something like that! They accomplished a FULL ANIMATION rank here because I can't believe how perfect it was! This play was AMAZING. The people who did the puppetry were Lizi Breit, Julia Miller, and Jeffrey Paschal. Jeffrey Paschal also played the delivery guy at the end. If these puppeteers don't do this as a full-time job, I think they could be aliens from another dimension because that is AWESOME! And also, all of their music and songs were ON STAGE STUFF, instead of being recorded or something on speakers! The music and singing were done by Ben Kauffman, Emily Meyer, and Kyle Vegter. A Christmas carol has a lot of adaptations, but this version of A Christmas Carol was COMPLETELY original, having a whole new take on the Christmas ghost tale. I recommend anyone who never says “BA HUMBUG!” should see this play. I rate this play 10 ghosts out of 10 because it was just phenomenal and funny and amazing! WATCH THIS PLAY NOW AND IF IT IS NOT PLAYING RIGHT AT THIS VERY SECOND THEN BUY TICKETS NOW! I really want you to see this play. Peace, Gunnar
Photo Credits: Liz Lauren
