UW Presents "A Christmas Carol" Dec. 6-11

Nov. 28, 2005 -- Charles Dickens' classic "Ghost Story of Christmas" comes to life this holiday season when "A Christmas Carol" runs on the University of Wyoming Fine Arts Center main stage theatre Dec. 6-11 at 7:30 p.m., with matinees on Dec. 10 and 11 at 2 p.m.

Tickets cost $13 for adults, $11 for seniors and $6 for students. For ticket information or to purchase, call the ticket office at (307) 766-6666, stop by the Fine Arts box office (10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays), or go online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts.

Directed and adapted by UW Theatre and Dance Assistant Professor Wolf J. Sherrill, Dickens' magical and haunting tale of a bitter old miser who is given a chance for redemption on Christmas Eve defines how many celebrate Christmas today.

From carolers singing on street corners to families gathering for Christmas dinner, Dickens' novel almost single-handedly revived many of the old England's Christmas traditions, which had nearly vanished in the wake of the Industrial Revolution.

Sherrill focuses on the process of redemption, as the misanthropic Ebenezer Scrooge -- adeptly played by Peter K. Simpson, UW vice president emeritus and professor of political science -- finds his way through a long night's journey into his own dark soul and his rebirth in the bright light of morning.

The UW production emphasizes the role that Jacob Marley, Scrooge's departed business partner, portrayed by Ken Stellingwerf, a UW theatre and dance major from Sheridan, plays in Scrooge's transformation. Here, Marley not only narrates the piece, but, with the aid of the spirits, helps Scrooge develop a compassion for his fellow man.

"Marley's intervention more than anything helps Scrooge to revisit the decisions that have shaped the man that he is, and the decisions that have led him to the future that may be," says Sherrill. "It also leads Scrooge to his most crucial choice -- do nothing and end up as Marley did, chained and wandering without rest, or share the goodwill that is still buried within him."

Posted on Monday, November 28, 2005