SHELTON - Charles Dickens wrote his holiday classic “A Christmas Carol” in London in 1843 in the midst of England’s industrial revolution.
It was originally written to be published as a pamphlet to inspire social reform.
At the time, London was teeming with problems: in only 80 years its population quadrupled from 1 million to 4.5 million; crime was rampant-the police estimated that 20,000 children were being trained in thievery; the city’s water supply was polluted; housing was sparse and cramped with entire families living in one small room; and education for children was at an all-time low.
It is into this world that Valley Shakespeare Festival will take its audiences.
Presented without elaborate period costuming and staging, VSF’s production puts the emphasis on the true meaning of the story.
Tom Simonetti, the company’s Executive and Artistic Director (and Bob Cratchit), explains his reasoning this way:
“The story is powerful enough on its own not to need all kinds of embellishment. I love to see the children’s and families’ reactions to Jacob Marley’s chains, Tiny Tim, and Scrooge’s last speech. It’s a story that needs to be told because it reminds us of the kind of people we should be all year long. It’s exactly what we need.”
Audience members will join Ebenezer Scrooge on his transformational journey through his own personal darkness of bitterness and disillusion on that fateful Christmas Eve and emerge with him on that brilliant Christmas morning with renewed faith in God and humanity.
Jeremy Funke, who has portrayed Scrooge in the company’s productions from the very beginning, explains why the experience is new for him each year:
“… for myself personally, a sense of not knowing what comes next – I think Scrooge approaches his first Christmas with such a childlike energy precisely because he doesn’t know what comes next, and there’s a genuine excitement that comes along with that.”
Valley Shakespeare Festival will present its staged readings of “A Christmas Carol” at Plumb Memorial Library, 65 Wooster St., at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 and at 1 p.m. Dec. 9.
Reservations encouraged
Anyone wishing to come and experience this memorable moment in history may reserve seats by calling Valley Shakespeare Festival at 203-513-9446 or by visiting www.vsfestival.org.
The event is presented free of charge with a suggested donation of $10 per person.
Seating is limited and reservations are encouraged.
Post-performance refreshments will be provided courtesy of the Plumb Memorial Library.
This is a press release from Valley Shakespeare Festival, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit theater company serving the communities of the lower Naugatuck Valley.
