Harlequin puts on Orson Welles’ radio play of ‘A Christmas Carol’

Chances are good you’ve seen “A Christmas Carol” on stage, on TV or in films. Perhaps you’ve even read Charles Dickens’ most popular tale.

But have you ever simply listened to the tale of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghostly visitors, haunts who might seem even more otherworldly when they appear in your imagination?

That’s the experience Harlequin Productions is offering this holiday season. The company’s radio theater-style “A Christmas Carol,” adapted by Orson Welles, is available for streaming beginning Sunday, Dec. 6.

“What makes this different than ‘A Christmas Carol’ you might go see is we’re diving into a very textured soundscape,” said director Corey McDaniel of Seattle. “It’s fantastic if you have a set of headphones or a good speaker. Light a candle and enjoy a glass of wine and just really disappear into it.”

Welles’ script tells the tale in a traditional way that makes skillful use of audio storytelling techniques, McDaniel said.

“In the 1930s and the 1940s, radio was the main medium,” he told The Olympian. “It’s sort of an anomaly for me to go and work on a radio play, but for him, it was daily life.”

Radio-style theater is having something of a renaissance during the pandemic, and McDaniel is appreciating the chance to build his own skills and work with sound designer Kyle Thompson to heighten the emotion of a scene with special effects.

The production was recorded live, but unlike the company’s fall radio series, “Carol” is not live theater.

“There is no way for us to do live theater right now,” Harlequin’s artistic director Aaron Lamb told The Olympian. “We learned that in the radio series. Airing a live production with actors spread all over the region — or state, or country — maximized the opportunity for problems while minimizing the opportunity for recovery.”

In addition to “Carol,” the company is offering streaming video of the 2019 holiday show, John Longenbaugh’s “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol,” in which a Scroogelike Holmes is visited by some not-so-friendly ghosts.

Both “Carols” star Terry Edward Moore of Seattle, who’s played both Sherlock and Scrooge numerous times. Russ Holmes, who played Watson in “Case,” plays the Ghost of Christmas Past in the radio “Carol.” Other Harlequin regulars in this year’s production are Jason Haws as Bob Cratchit, Alyssa Kay as Martha Cratchit (the Cratchits’ oldest daughter), Helen Harvester as Belle, Nicholas Main as Fred and Young Scrooge, and Marianna de Fazio as — surprise — Tiny Tim. (The ability to cast against type is, of course, another advantage of radio-style theater.)

Two returning cast members have acted for Harlequin only in radio productions: Sunam Ellis, who was in “Snow in Midsummer” and is now playing Mrs. Cratchit, and Jason Sharp, who was in “Dracula” and is narrating “Carol.”

Making their Harlequin debuts are Rebecca Davis, who’s acted for the Seattle Shakespeare Company and Seattle Public Theatre, as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Antonio Mitchell as Jacob Marley. Mitchell is working towards a master’s in fine arts at the University of Washington and can, according to his website, touch his knee without bending over.

“The cast has actors from our entire region, from Seattle down to Olympia,” McDaniel said. “There’s a lot of talent that Olympia audiences are used to seeing” — or, in this case, hearing — “and also a couple of new actors.”

“We’re very happy we were able to offer at least a little work to artists during our radio series and during this holiday period,” Lamb said. “We’ve had the opportunity to work with some incredible artists during this time.”

He’s not sure what’s coming next for Harlequin, he said, though he hopes the theater will be able to reopen safely sometime next year. In the meantime, additional virtual productions are possible, but he’s not planning to produce anything else this winter.

“We are planning a virtual season announcement in the spring,” he said. “It will hopefully — pending how much we know about the future — outline our reopening.”

‘A Christmas Carol’

• What: Harlequin Productions is streaming Orson Welles’ radio-theater adaptation of Charles Dickens’ beloved classic.
• When: Streaming on demand from Dec. 6 to Dec. 31; once you begin listening, you’ll have access to the recording for 48 hours.
• Tickets: $25-$35
• More information: http://harlequinproductions.org

‘Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol’

• What: Harlequin is also streaming a video recording of its 2019 holiday offering, which finds Holmes in a decidedly Scroogelike mood.
• When: Streaming on demand Dec. 6-31; once you begin listening, you’ll have access to the recording for 48 hours.
• Tickets: $15-$25
• More information: http://harlequinproductions.org

This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 5:45 AM.