Click here for the KMR review of A RED CAROL.
Sometimes an icon can get lost in the tradition and nostalgia that has grown up around it. Such is Dickens’ A Christman Carol. As I discovered when speaking to the writer/director/scenic designer of The San Francsico Mime Troupe’s A RED CAROL Michael Gene Sullivan via Zoom on December 4, 2024. We as a culture have moved far away from Dickens’ original intention (other than making some money when he found himself in financial difficulties in 1843). Sullivan’s timely, and unapologetic, take on the classic Dickens tale of a miser’s redemption is far truer to how audiences in the nineteenth century would have, ahem, read the story. He has refocused on the larger political issues to be found in A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and made the bold argument that it’s not about Scrooge. Bold, but not inaccurate.
We discussed how the focus had shifted over the years, and why, as well as the evolution of A RED CAROL from theatrical play to radio play and back to a stage production. More importantly for me, talking with Sullivan illuminated how societal attitudes towards the poor have led to tech billionaires, once the rogues of the business world who brought innovation to how businesses were run, became the new funding source for farthest right elements of modern politics.
We went on to talk about self-censorship and the importance of discreet hydration.
After the interview, Sullivan emailed me wanting to annotate one of his statements about his intention that audiences would leave not just A RED CAROL, but all Mime Troupe shows as changed people. I give him the last word.
“One thing I wanted to add in answer to one of my statements: I said that the audience should never leave a show unchanged – but those changes also includes being energized! Activated! In a sea of propaganda it’s easy to feel that you are the lone voice, that you are the outlier, the weirdo – so sometimes the best thing is to see a play. An audience is a self-selected community of people with the same questions and concerns, so to laugh and sing and think and be challenged along with them can remind you that you are not alone.”
A RED CAROL runs December 14-29, 2024 at Z-Space here in San Francisco.
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