Looking Back at A Christmas Carol
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or more than four decades, Trinity Rep’s production of A Christmas Carol has been a part of the holiday tradition for millions in southern New England. Though we can’t gather in person, that tradition won’t end this year. As our gift to the community, we are creating an online production of the Charles Dickens classic and offering it free to everyone. Along with a team of actors, designers, and staff, director Curt Columbus has created a wholly unique and thoroughly Trinity Rep take on the story that integrates traditional theatrical storytelling with technological possibilities only available with digital production. The cast includes Joe Wilson, Jr. as Ebenezer Scrooge and features many other familiar and beloved faces. Bring A Christmas Carol into your living room this December with an on-demand streaming video and share this holiday treat with family near and far. You can register for your free access to the show now and read more about the production at trinityrep.com/carol or call (401) 351-4242. On these pages, we’ve asked current resident acting company members who have played Scrooge to reflect on the challenges and joys of creating this iconic character.
Anne Scurria
Playing Scrooge was one of the most amazing experiences of my career. It’s a perfect part: Scrooge goes from being really cold and barely human to being not only happy, but goofy and not caring what anyone thinks of him. A terrific journey. As a woman it was incredibly moving for me and the audience to see Scrooge at the Cratchits: seeing a woman who has forfeited having a family in order to be a business woman, something we’re still having to negotiate. Also seeing her younger self as a woman again was extremely potent, women vanish after 40, even now. I have had so many women come up to me and tell me how moving it was for them. I’ve also had kids tell me I played with them when I got giddy and it stayed with them. I think I was the first woman to play Scrooge, I played it three times, and the Dickens Society and other men’s groups got all bent out of shape!
Stephen Thorne
Anne Scurria as Scrooge and Noah Brody as Bob Cratchit with the cast, directed by Peter Sampieri, 2003 PHOTO BY T. CHARLES ERICKSON
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THE TRINITY SQUARE • FALL 2020
One of the great things about the part is that there is such a huge journey built in to the story. So even on your tenth show of the week, you get to start at the beginning and really go somewhere. That journey acts upon you — not that it’s a piece of cake by any means — but getting to go on that ride, with the audience, is a big gift. There is a completeness to Scrooge’s journey. And a great charge that is offered to the audience at the end of the play. Now that change has happened, now that my/our eyes are open, how will I/we live that out for the rest of my life? It is of course a question for Scrooge to consider, but more importantly, it is THE question for all of us.
