Of all the blithe sounds you’ll hear this holiday season, tis none merrier than that of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, performed in near-entirety by Phil Gallagher as a one-man endeavor at Spotlighters Theatre. For its third year running, this solo-performer adaptation of the iconic Christmas classic holds its own against the 400 other productions of the Dickensian money-maker this time of year. Adapted for the stage by Sherrionne Brown and Phil Gallagher, with direction by Brown and performance by Gallagher, you get a truly enigmatic performance of some two dozen characters, five staves, four ghosts, three timelines, two spaced-out acts, and a partridge in a pear tree. Well, maybe not the partridge or the pear-tree, but you get the picture. It’s a seasonal gem and a proper Christmas treat to watch Phil Gallagher recounting the classic Christmas ghost story as a one-man extravaganza.
If there’s a lone complaint to be had it’s that director Sherrionne Brown, who has also conceptualized the set and designed it, doesn’t make use of one of the most excellent pieces on the stage. While it’s completely understandable that the focus should be on Phil Gallagher all throughout the performance (and honestly, where else is it going to be? He’s the only person on stage and yes, he’s that good that you won’t be tempted to look anywhere else) there is a moment near the end of the performance, when Scrooge is faced with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Be, and the ‘graveyard’ scenery (cleverly tucked away into one of the off-stage corners of the unique Spotlighters space) is waiting to be acknowledged. And it never comes. You get no light cue, no light-up name on the tombstone, nothing. It just feels like a disservice to Brown’s scenic brilliance and Jen Sizer (the show’s lighting designer) and her potential design work. Gallagher is on his knees in repentance, face buried away from most of the audience anyhow, so why not take just that one moment to truly let the scenery have its due, to augment the emotional impact of that moment— even if its just a ghastly white light that lights up briefly over that scenery? (Because otherwise, why go to all the trouble to build it and with such detail?) Again, I’m knit-picking, largely because I get to see 400 Christmas Carols every season, and your average audient probably isn’t even going to notice that there is a graveyard (depending on where in the postage-stamp-theatre-in-the-square that they’re sitting) but it just feels anti-climactic in that moment where it could be so powerful (and all with just a simple light! Bring a cemetery onto your stage work and you must light it by the end of the production, said the ghost of Chekhov’s past.) At any rate, this minor design-point-disagreement aside, (and a few vocal-trail-offs from Gallagher when he’s falling into a particularly soft-spoken moment, but forgets that even at Spotlighters one must use ‘the stage voice’) the show is practically perfect.
Bells of praise should be rung for Jen Sizer, that aforementioned lighting designer, who really crafts some beautiful cues into the scenes, which assist the audience in the suspension of their disbelief. Phil Gallagher is an engaging enough performer that he could stand alone on a stage with just a single overhead light on him and the audience would still enjoy his rendition of A Christmas Carol. Sizer’s illumination techniques spin that enjoyment to the next level. She employs incredibly eerie lighting for the fourth stave, where the ghouls of the future are picking over the body of an unwanted creature; it’s truly spooky. She also puts just a hint of ghoulish green into play when encountering the ghost of Marley (remember: MARLEY WAS DEAD TO BEGIN WITH!) and other impressive tricks of light, darkness, shadow, and brightness that enhance the viewing experience of the performance.
The way Sherrionne Brown has carefully parsed together the various pieces of this novella, working with performer Phil Gallagher to determine exactly what remains and what ends up in the charwoman’s ash bin for the alleyway is something masterful to behold. True to the words of Dickens, the pacing is sublime, the obscure bits— like Christmas at the lighthouse during Stave Three— are a treat to those less familiar with them (as the lighthouse and other odds and ends never get included in the Hollywood/commercial Christmas editions) and a pure delight to those who have studied the novella in its entirety. Her pacing work and overall directorial tone with Gallagher keeps the show moving briskly; it’s a lot to get through for one performer and a lot for one audience to ingest; but it moves with sublime ease and really engages the audience every step of the way.
Phil Gallagher is a transformative performer, providing clear distinctions between each of the characters. Serving as narrative voice— though disclaiming at the top of the performance he is not Dickens— as well as Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and every blessed other character featured in the novella, Gallagher finds a way to make them all unique. Sometimes its with a shift of his vocal cadence or intonation or shift in his accent, other times its with his physical stature or way he moves his gate. On several occasions it’s a combination of physicality and vocality (and even once or twice we get a hilarious costume-prop accessory like when he’s trying to be the women in the Cratchit household.) Gallagher is nimble on his feet, particularly when doing what I refer to as ‘flip-jack’ scenes. Having a fully engaged conversation between two characters as one actor runs the risk of being a farce bordering on pantomime. Gallagher finds an exacting balance so that it’s just humorous enough (in the moments where it is meant to be humorous) and yet still reads and appears true to the text. This makes a tremendous difference in the show’s overall vibe, particularly during more sobering scenes like the discourse between Marley and Scrooge or the ‘Portly Gentlemen’ and Scrooge. But then you get a healthy dose of physical and vocal shenanigans when Gallagher is trying to play all 700 ubiquitous Cratchit children, steeped to their eyeballs in sage and onion and Christmas pudding. You even get a taste of delightfully maddened Scrooge, with Gallagher sitting like a cracked-out gopher in his ‘sleeping chair’ awaiting the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas present and its absolutely hilarious to watch.
Sizer’s lighting is truly remarkable, exceptionally well executed, and spot on throughout the performance. Gallagher’s performance is extraordinary and truly delivers the spirit of Dickens’ Christmas Carol and Sherrionne Brown’s vision is a wondrous theatrical gem that brings these two powerhouse features (Gallagher’s performance, Sizer’s lighting skills) of live theatre together for the holidays. Please don’t ghost Spotlighters Theatre this Christmas season; this annual holiday tradition is much deserving of your patronage. Enjoy A Christmas Carol with Phil Gallagher, Sherrionne Brown, Jen Sizer, and the whole Spotlighters’ team this Christmas; you won’t regret it.
Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
A Christmas Carol plays through December 17th 2023 at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre— 817 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD. For tickets call the box office at (410) 752-1225 or purchase them online.
Click here to read the interview with Phil Gallagher from 2022 about A Christmas Carol.
