During the English Industrial Age, Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol,” a novella that tells the story of a cruel man named Ebenezer Scrooge, a man of greed and self gain. In “A Christmas Carol,” Dickens wrote of the very same dark and gloomy world of which he lived. Poverty was high and disease was running rampant. People were suffering, and yet he somehow managed to write a story of hope: a story of human growth. 

The universality of the story is probably why the Indiana Repertory Theater still puts it on today. In a society like our own when people are so quick to dismiss one another, the theme of this play is still important today. Christmas is at its core about helping your fellow man and not about greed as modern Scrooges seem to misinterpret.

The showing that I went to was sold out and for a good reason. The set alone was phenomenal. The setting of the play changes so frequently, that a stationary set was ruled out. Every doorway in the play was a giant picture frame and when not in use, it was flopped down into the mounds of fake snow that covered the entire stage and disguised the hatches in the floor that characters would use to pop in and out of.

The costuming was surreal, a perfect representation of the period. It was ragged and at times quite scary. Marley, Scrooge’s deceased business partner, was truly terrifying, as was the ghost of Christmas yet to come.

The actress who played the ghost of Christmas present stole the show and was hilarious to watch on stage.  Tiny Tim was the most pitiful thing you ever saw, but remained so optimistic you couldn’t help but to smile.

Scrooge made the greatest turnaround of them all, from chasing carolers off his doorstep to excitedly doing snow angels in the faux snow. He was, however, not my ideal Scrooge because he seemed stale and like a caricature of the character. Everything he did was either in the extreme of hatefulness or like a drugged giraffe, in his clumsiness. There wasn’t enough of a flow into the dramatic change.

That being said, every other aspect of the show was perfect.

The show was relatively affordable compared to other theatrical performances. Student discount made the ticket roughly $45. The IRT is a stunning historic building, where every single seat seems to have the best view and the best acoustics. I highly recommend going to see “A Christmas Carol” at the IRT and clearly it is a good show, because it is run annually.