RADIO DRAMA REVIEWS ONLINE

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Colin Lewisohn

Home
AUTHORS A-J
AUTHORS K-R
AUTHORS S-Z
DRAMATISTS A-Z
Contact Us

More on A Christmas Carol from Encore Audio

Encore Audio, November 2009
 
This fifty-minute version of the Dickens classic retold the story in straightforward fashion, complete with eerie sound-effects to denote the appearance of the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Future, and the sound of merry-making in the Cratchit household.
 
Scrooge initially came across as a fearsome figure, implacably opposed to the idea of Christmas, as it got in the way of making money.  Hence his reluctance to give Bob Cratchit even one day off without extracting something in return.  As the drama unfolded, however, so his attitude gradually changed, as he saw his past unfolding in front of him, and how work had transformed him from a happy child into a parsimonious lonely old man.  The only way he could redeem himself was to try and show some sense of generosity; hence the happy ending.
 
What was most evident in Colin Lewisohn's production was the way in which radio has the effect of eliminating distinctions between past, present, and future.  The action unfolds sequentially, making us aware of how human beings can neither escape their pasts, nor determine their futures.  They just have to learn to live in the best way they can, coping with adversity (as in the case of Tiny Tim), while trying to recognize the presence of others.