"Marley was dead" was the beginning of the play. Just like in almost every version of "A Christmas Carol", the theatre play in "Schauspiel Leipzig" also began with this iconic line. The play was in English, which is unusual in Germany and was about 90 minutes long. It used English actors, was played on the 12th of December, directed by Richard Clodfelter and produced by Grantly Marshall. It was a great play with amazing actors and story.
The theatre had two stories. One to look at the stage from above and one to sit at the height of the stage. You don't have a lot of room for your legs and must stand up if anyone wants to walk between the chairs. You also have to bend forwards to see everything if you don't sit in the first row.
The stage also was very simple, so that the audience could get confused about where the actors actually are. You must use a lot of imagination to envision what the stage looks like and need to pay close attention to follow the location of the actors.
The play was very unique due to Dickens being played by one of the actors.
Dickens was the narrator in the play. He narrates the story, tells that Marley was dead, and introduces characters like Scrooge. Scrooge the financier was played by an elderly man. He was very good at playing his role. His expressions were on point, and his body language was great. He had a grumpy, mean expression on his face, befitting Scrooge.
There are also other characters like Cratchit, Scrooge's clerk, who also reacted just like he should. And Cratchit's son, his wife, the nephew of Scrooge, they all played their roles very well, used amazing facial expressions and body language and showed the characters just like they should be. The sick son of Cratchit had a painfilled face whenever his sickness attacked him. […]
But not just the body language was great, also the spoken language was amazing. It was an easy and clear language, which is especially important because the play was performed in Germany and had many students in the audience. The costumes were high quality, old-fashioned, and realistic. The old-fashioned style fits "A Christmas Carol" because Dickens originally wrote it between the 1800s.
Here is a short summary of the story. The story starts with the line "Marley was dead" followed by the introduction of Scrooge. Scrooge is this mean, grumpy man who hates Christmas to his guts. He connects every bad memory with Christmas. The death of his sister during childbirth, the death of his own parents, Marley's death, just about everything bad that happened to him, happened on Christmas. […] . Scrooge has a clerk, Cratchit, whom he treats poorly. He barely pays Cratchit anything for his work, and he doesn't heat up the counting house, even during winter.
That's enough about the story; everything else would be considered a spoiler. The play was designed to be very humorous. For example, they used an actor as a door. Scrooge would unlock the door and open it, and the actor would make the creaking sound of the door. There also is a scene where they talk about buying a huge turkey and they bring in this giant turkey plush that is as big as the actors.
In conclusion, it was an amazing play with English actors in Germany. It was very humorous, and the actors played their roles amazingly. It's a play that can be attended with family, friends, or just by yourself. I can recommend it to every age group. It's a 9/10 play, the theatre giving it its only minus points.
