This holiday season, viewers will be visited by three spirits at Craigdarroch Castle in a performance of A Christmas Carol by veteran local actor Jason Stevens. Stevens—who is returning for his tenth year telling the story—brings 19 characters to life in his solo performance of the Dickens classic tale of a man beset by greed and bitterness, who, in his last woeful, hateful moments, comes to understand himself and learn to foster joy in those around him.
“The story itself is probably in my top five favourites,” says Stevens. “It’s a perfect story in terms of its art, artistry, construction, and beauty. I like the idea that a person who is older, who is a malignant and painful canker on the world, can decide at the eleventh hour to embrace the positive aspects of life and make a difference.”
On Halloween, Stevens performed Frankenstein at Craigdarroch, and he thinks that there are similarities between the two tales.
“[A Christmas Carol is] a great story, and it’s like Frankenstein in the sense that this is a person who became the canker that he was over a period of time and process, and ignored all of the positive influences in his life,” says Stevens. “He lived in fear of being poor—that was the only evil that he could see, and when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Stevens says that although Scrooge comes across as being cruel and spiteful, there is a tender soul beneath the repellent exterior. The tale is about healing from past wounds and becoming a better person by being receptive to the joyful kindness given by those who care about us.
“I think it’s a story about pain,” says Stevens. “I mean, the thing about Scrooge is that he’s not misunderstood, he’s just identified as being mean, but really, he’s a guy that was traumatized as a child: everyone he loved died or was cruel to him. The world was a hard, nasty place, and he found a way of fighting back. As I get older, I think it’s a great quality to be able to embrace good things, and be able to unclench your fist.”
Classic stories that are repeated year in and out could become stagnant over time, but for Stevens, A Christmas Carol is in no danger of this.
“This is one of those things that doesn’t stagnate,” he says. “It never gets old for me. I love every story I do, but there’s nothing I love more than A Christmas Carol. I feel 12 years old when I’m telling it, and I also feel ageless.”
Stevens says that forming a connection with the viewers who are standing mere feet from him is the greatest reward for a storyteller, and it gets better every time.
“It’s not like going to a movie, and it’s not like going to a play; it’s not like going to any other kind of live entertainment I can even think of; it’s far more intimate,” he says. “There’s something about saying those magical words in that magical place to the people who want to be there and hear that, and have that experience. It’s a story that just gets better in the telling; there’s so much to it.”
The underlying theme behind A Christmas Carol, says Stevens, is that even in times of darkness and sorrow, each person has the capacity to change, to better themselves, and become a positive impact upon the world.
“I think the main message that I would like people to take away from this is that it’s the darkest, coldest time of the year, and as we move into the light with the new year, we can all transform ourselves,” he says. “It’s never too late to be what you wish to be.”
A Christmas Carol
Various times and dates,
Saturday, December 11 to Friday, December 24
$30, Craigdarroch Castle
thecastle.ca