The ghosts of Christmas present have to deal with coronavirus and a pandemic, but it’s not stopping Manual Cinema from producing a version of Charles Dickens’ “Christmas Carol.”
Manual Cinema returns to The Soraya theater for the premier of an inventive adaptation of “Christmas Carol.” It promises to bring a visually and musically inventive performance.
Manual Cinema uses paper puppets, miniatures, silhouettes and a live musical performance to tell the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge on a fateful and revealing Christmas Eve.
Manual Cinema will produce six performances from Dec. 11-13 and broadcast directly into family homes.
Each show will be performed in the Manual Cinema’s Chicago studio and live-streamed to audiences of The Soraya via Marquee TV.
In the original story of “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge is visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve. They show him his Christmas pasts, present and future. Through these scenes, Scrooge learns the meaning of Christmas, how important it is to be charitable, and sharing his good fortune with those who are not as fortunate.
It is a familiar tale with traditional messages of keeping the Christmas spirit alive.
In the Manual Cinema production, Aunt Trudy, an avowed holiday skeptic, tells the story. She has been recruited by her family to entertain them with a puppet show on a Zoom call during quarantine. The puppets become the characters from “Christmas Carol” in an adaptation of the holiday ghost story.
The program will not be available for later viewing through Manual Cinema. “Christmas Carol” is made possible by the contributions of co-commissioners, which include The Soraya.
Performances:
Fri., December 11 at 5PM or 7PM
Sat., December 12 at 1PM or 5PM
Sun., December 13 at 1PM or 4PM
Ticket information here
More information here on Soraya.
