With all that going for it, I still can't say I liked or enjoyed this Production.

In overall concept, the show lacks heart and soul.  And spirit; Christmas or otherwise. Most of the time, the actors seem to be doing a recitation rather than acting or bringing characters to life.

Fine actors, whom I have seen and praised in other shows, look like they are just going through the motions.  I had the feeling that the people on stage might have thought this is such an old chestnut of a show that they didn't have to give it their all. And unfortunately, in the performance I saw, it showed.

Maybe the Portland Stage Company, which has presented productions of A Christmas Carol for 11 years, is trying too hard to do something “different”. The actors function as narrators simultaneously with playing their characters---something that did not come off convincingly for me.

For starters, some of the roles seem mis-cast. Key actors are used in multiple roles which is jarring in some cases (nephew Fred also playing Scrooge as a youth). The actor playing Charles Dickens also plays (a comically bad) Marley. Wanting to be fair and give Daniel Noel the benefit of the doubt, the program notes say he plays Marley and another man plays Charles Dickens; so maybe Noel was a last-minute stand-in for the performance I saw.

The lead role of Scrooge (played by Evan Thompson) has the demeanor and appearance of a contemporary High School principal rather than the maniacal, borderline evil, classic Scrooge. Like the memorable quote about Katherine Hepburn's early performances he “showed an emotional range from A to B”. This play needs a raging, cruel Scrooge who believably evolves to joyous kindness by the end of the play. Thompson comes across as crotchety at best.

Other questionable choices in this Production are the Ghosts (or more precisely their costuming). The ghost of Christmas Past is dressed in a long, frilly white gown ready for a Ball.  Christmas Present wears a green velvet long gown while romping on Scrooge's bed. And Christmas Yet to Come is dressed like a Southern belle in mourning. Unfortunately, not emotionally stirring or foreboding the way these ghosts are supposed to be.

Now, I don't mean to criticize the bed, because frankly, it was one of the best features of the extremely minimalist set. As a prop it was used creatively, particularly in swirling sequences for the passage of time.

Program notes call the show a whirlwind. That I can agree with---but a whirlwind has no roots; it's moving air that just spins. Unfortunately, that is an apt metaphor for this Production.

The children are charming and enjoyable to watch. And in this Production, they were sometimes doing the best acting.
The heart of the story is missing and key emotional elements are absent.  The biggest was the total absence of Scrooge's promise to his dying sister Fan to take care of her son Fred. The betrayal of that promise is essential to the story and it was nowhere to be seen in this interpretation. And Scrooge's callous breaking of his engagement with Belle, a turning point for his path to loneliness and bitterness, was presented as casually as a high school breakup.
I must say that Mark Honan is good in his role as Bob Cratchit. However, his choice (or the Director's) to give him a Cockney accent throws his character off kilter. No one else in his family has the accent and it makes this fine actor seem uncharacteristically silly. Cratchit, the devoted guy we want to root for, comes across as merely comical.

Dustin Tucker deserves mention for his convincing job as Nephew Fred, the unbelievably sunny and joyously happy abandoned relative of Scrooge's.

Unfortunately, the dialogue is difficult to hear at times and there is a piano in the background playing too loudly during many of the scenes, making it even more difficult to hear the actors' lines.

Sadly, this show did not get me in the Christmas spirit. There are other productions of A Christmas Carol throughout the midcoast area this season that might do a better job. I really don't like to be a Scrooge about this one, but I'm afraid this Production gets a lump of coal.