Of Note:

Full Review of the production - The Daily News, Longview WA

Preview Article of the production - The Daily News, Longview WA

Scenic Design Floor-plan  - by Patrick Spike - all rights reserved

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Letter of Recommendation from Artistic Director Yolanda Suarez

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These photos are the property of Patrick Spike, please do not duplicate, download, copy or print.  Thank you.

Concept Statement (all rights reserved)

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol
Presented at Longview Stageworks, Longview WA
Performances Dec 2 – 18, 2005
Director/Set Designer – Patrick Spike

Director’s Concept

Theme

Only through forgiveness and self sacrifice do we find redemption and happiness. 

Vision Statement

This production will explore the ultimate confrontation of our own life choices and the consequences of those actions. The ultimate growth and transcendence as a human being is to own up to our choices, accept the consequences, and still retain the ultimate element of our humanity – the ability to forgive and show mercy.

Journey Statement – dramatic experience for the spectator

This play is presented in a distinctive story-theatre style wherein the actors fluidly move between themselves as “actors” to various characters and back again while rarely leaving stage. In some cases they will remain in view of the audience even while not directly involved with the scene, sometimes helping to change the minimalist set to accommodate the action of the play. The piece demands a heightened and dynamic energy of performance and clarity of character to pull the audience into the story and keep them on the edge of their seats.

Audience Journey: Entering the theatre it is dark, with an empty stage of levels and platforms and texture. There is nothing to establish a time period or a sense of place. As the play begins the actors address the audience and then begin to move into the characters of the play, bringing life to some people we are familiar with, others who are unknown. There is a sense of mystery to what we are witnessing, of foreboding, a sense of wonder and magic. While there are moments of humor, there are also moments of fear when the stakes are so high for these characters that they startle and surprise us. It is a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, a haunted house thrill ride with a warm hearted sense of seasonal redemption.

Style

Performance: This is a dark piece. The “actors” need to have a consistent tone when they are out of character, moving and speaking in a restrained, almost ominous way, allowing for the colorful characters of the play to leap forward in very distinct ways. Each “character” they portray must be extremely clear and rooted through their entire body and voice so that we easily see the transitions between these characters and recognize them as they come and go. The situations for these characters are extremely serious and important. So the intentions these characters are pursuing needs to drive them to extremes of emotion and behavior. Life and death is literally at stake for these people. Moments of the play shock us when these stakes are allowed to truly be seen. The audience should feel themselves fly back in their chairs and their heart leap at times.
Set: The set needs to be “everyplace” so levels, hidden entrances, transforming elements that become something we didn’t know were there, and places where performers can appear unexpectedly are all plusses. The color is primarily black, with subtle highlights of pale green, grey… like ancient dust collecting on the edges of things. These highlights should pick up subtle light changes during the show.

Lights & Sound: Lights and Sound both play an intricate part in creating the mood, sense of location, and the magic of this play. The otherworldliness of the ghosts, the chill of the winter and under-heated offices and residences, the joy of the characters ultimate redemption, all of these are enhanced by lights and sound and help to support the work of the actors.
We are purchasing a previously designed sound scheme so will have little control over its design. The lights will work to support this design as well.

Costumes & Props: The costuming of this production is neutral and contemporary/timeless. Simple trousers, shirts, maybe a jacket… but specifically not period or quaint. The costumes and decoration should be primarily imagined by the audience, as are the props.

Script

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol by Tom Mula (four actor version) from Dramatists Play Service Inc.

Challenges and Approach

We face challenges of casting and budget on this production. With the theatre in Longview, about 45 minutes outside of the nearest urban center, Portland OR, it is proving difficult to attract actors to audition for the production. Director Patrick Spike is making personal calls to possible actors inviting them to audition. Beyond the challenge of just finding any actors to audition, the play requires a high level of acting talent and skill to portray the heightened emotion, dynamics and energy of the piece while maintaining extreme clarity of character through both voice and body portrayal.

The theatre is operating on a very limited budget. While they endeavor to pay all people involved, which is highly admirable, it makes the budget for set, costumes, etc. very limited. Thankfully the set is minimal for this play and hopefully can be done with a lot of stock materials and creative use of inexpensive objects.
 

Outcome

Ultimately I was pleased that the show was received well by the community, that I was able, with the actor's and lighting designer's creativity, to create a stylish, moody and unexpected holiday production from this unusual piece. Unfortunately we had some issues with actors and line problems that greatly slowed the pace of the show and kept the production from being what it ultimately should have been.  But the Artistic Director and I agreed that if we pushed any more it would only cause the people at issue to have more frustration and only make the problem worse.  The design, created on a shoe string, was very effective.