Manual Cinema’s “A Christmas Carol” Shadows the Classic in Another Light

By Wes Hessel with Beth Tomas

Set during COVID, Christmas 2020, “Manual Cinema’s A Christmas Carol” at the Studebaker Theater brings the iconic tale to modern, parallel life, with the company’s signature use of puppetry, shadow play, live video, and other forms of media, coupled with a integral sound track. Though embittered by her grief at the loss of her life partner, Joe, to COVID, Trudy (LaKesia Harris) feels obligated to carry on the traditional puppet show version of “A Christmas Carol” that he had performed every year for the family at Christmas. This time it is through a Zoom gathering – at the same time, she shares a parallel journey to that of Ebenezer Scrooge.

It is equal parts stage play, video presentation (meant to mimic the Zoom session), and a peek behind the scenes. The set is universal – Trudy’s house, midway through packing to move  – and Ms. Harris’ Trudy moves seamlessly between the “Zoom call” and the dining room as she refreshes her glass, and ultimately polishes off a bottle of wine. The “peek” behind the scenes occurs when the story moves to the ghostly visits, blending scenes from both the traditional Ebenezer’s and Trudy’s life. The audience is “invited” to see how the shadow puppetry effects are made – the “backstage crew” is brought into the spotlight as they work all the aspects of the puppetry.

This is done with beautiful, ethereal music playing over shadow puppet scenes. The production seems to depend on the audience being very familiar with the tale, as these scenes contain no dialog. The performance evoked my own memories of the COVID shutdown and that quarantined holiday season.

The puppetry is, bar none, amazing – any presuppositions I went in with about seeing a “puppet version” of “A Christmas Carol” were immediately eliminated. The blending between puppetry, video, and stage acting is amazing – there are no jarring transitions between; the audience is easily drawn into the story. LaKesia, in her spectacular performance, may be virtually the only speaking actor, but the puppeteers easily shared equal billing on the stage. Lucy Little’s voice is rich, haunting, and beautifully communicates the sentiments of the story.

This imaginative reimagining of the Dickens Christmas classic only runs until December 28th, so much like Ebenezer on Christmas morning, take advantage of the chance you have not to miss it – visit manualcinema.com for tickets or more information.

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