The Carlyle Dickens Village Festival is celebrating its 12th year this December. One of the main staples of the celebrations includes the annual performance of A Christmas Carol by the community theatre group, Cornerstone Theatre.
Throughout these years Doug Waldner, co-stage director of this year's play, explained they have only repeated a production twice. Within 13 years, as Cornerstone hosted a performance of A Christmas Carol the year before Dickens began, there have been 11 different portrayals of the famous Charles Dickens book.
This year is no different with Cornerstone Theatre bringing to the Dickens Festival, A Community Christmas Carol by Mackenzie Easton.
"She's a very clever writer, I thought it was very clever and everyone who read it loved it," Waldner explained. "She takes the standard Christmas Carol and incorporates it into her version."
Waldner is joined by Colleen Easton (Mackenzie's mother) in stage direction, Dianne Twietmeyer and Lane Easton (Mackenzie's father) in music direction, and Michele Amy in band direction.
Mackenzie, in her first year of university, wrote the script based on the idea of a director continually putting on the same show every year. This year the director decides she has had enough and cancels all of the Christmas festivities in her town.
"It's a small community theatre which has been putting on A Christmas Carol for many years and the director gets tired of it cancelling the whole Christmas festival," Waldner smiled as he explained the premise of the play.
Ultimately Mackenzie took inspiration from Cornerstone Theatre and produced an extremely exaggerated version of thoughts and feelings that have come up within those who perform each year in the Dickens play.
"Mackenzie has been part of the group for years and it's not biographically or historically accurate but it builds up the feelings we've had at times and takes them to a really fun place," Waldner said. "It's taking those feelings to a really high level and in really funny way."
"It's a really fun play. We've got some characters from our previous Christmas plays coming back."
Additionally Waldner explained they are bringing back music from past performances, will be utilizing last year's Arizona set, while also incorporating brand new material.
"It will be fun for those who have seen all of the plays because they'll be able to pick out different things we've done in the past," Waldner said.
"Mackenzie's also brought in the typical Scrooge storyline, which is cleverly worked into the play that people will catch as well."
There are approximately 20 people involved as characters Waldner explained and happily said a four or five piece band has been practicing together.
"It's been a lot of work, they have a mash-up of three songs that the characters are singing which is difficult to do but it will work out nicely," Waldner said. "It's got very good songs... there's lots of good performers... and there's as many genres of music as we could do in it too: blues, country, rock and roll, classic rock, a show tune, folk, and even an old time Vaudeville type of sounding song."
They have been working together since the end of September. Moving forward they have been focusing their vision and are excited to be able to share the finished product with the community and Mackenzie, who being away at school has yet to see how Cornerstone has brought her script to life.
Tickets for the production are on sale at The Pearl Boutique (306-453-4488) located on Main Street across from Carlyle Memorial Hall. The production will be performed on Friday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee show on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m.
