LOWER LAKE — I should start off by saying that I almost always enjoy attending the theater in the Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum, in spite of some limitations of the house that take skill to overcome. For instance, the stage is very small, the dressing rooms and backstage are tiny and lighting is always set up as best it can be under the circumstances. But the Lake County Theater Company has been dealing with these problems for years now, and has gotten pretty good at overcoming them.
Linda Lake, the director of museums in Lake County, has a background in little theater and has developed the auditorium for producing plays in a very sympathetic way, with the firm support of the county government. The house only holds a small audience, but that is only a disadvantage from the point of view of the box office. The intimacy greatly benefits the audience.
There are some plays presented there that are even better than most. Let”s consider Charles Dickens” holiday ghost story.
There are scripts available that are adapted closely from the original short story and the production rights to them are not expensive, but the director of this play, Suna Flores, rewrote everything to suit the house and the cast and the result could have been off-putting. After all, everyone knows the story.
There are some changes that everyone will notice, for instance the Spirit of Christmas Present is played by the beautiful Diana Schmidt rather than by a hearty giant with a booming voice and Scrooge”s nephew and wife have been changed into a young niece. The two philanthropists who ask for money for the poor in the short story seem to have finally gotten the word, after all these years, that there is no point to going to Mr. Scrooge”s business for a contribution, so they make no appearance at all.
But these are minor changes; the core of the story isn”t changed. Scrooge gets reformed by visions of the past, the present and the future and the love he has failed to share. The reformation scenes are really moving and many eyes get moist.
The greatest change is that Flores has injected humor into the tale.
Dickens could write humor. His “Pickwick Papers” is pretty funny in spots. But when he was being righteous and sentimental, his funny bone got left on the plate and the original Christmas Carol is relentlessly grim right up to the inspirational end.
One gets so glad that Scrooge learns his lesson; one couldn”t take much more of that. Shakespeare would have shaken his head. Willy the Shake knew that a little comic relief puts it all into perspective and Flores followed that illustrious lead.
Which gives me the opportunity to praise the work of Schmidt and William McCauley as Christmas Present and Past. Schmidt has comic timing as sharp as a knife and it is wonderful when a beautiful woman can make you belly laugh with a turn of her head or a look. McCauley has obviously had his bones replaced with dreams of water and his face is just as flexible. Even Scrooge, played by the excellent Jon Zarr Haber, gets a few laughs, without weakening the portrait of the mean-spirited old skinflint.
There are a lot of children in this production and for once they don”t lend an air of school project to the proceedings. They even sing on key and get the blocking right. They do tug at the heartstrings but, given the storyline, what can you expect?
And I have to mention the music because David Neft has done such a good job composing it and playing it. I wish the hall had a better sound system, because from some seats, such as mine, hearing the dialogue was difficult occasionally. But that is a small criticism compared to the excellence of his invention.
And I have to mention the most annoying failure of this event, the lights. Sometimes actors fail to hit their spots and wind up in shadow and that is annoying for sure, but on Sunday the problem kept recurring. One has no way of knowing if it is the fault of the operators, the lighting designer or the actors, but good lighting is inconspicuous and bad lighting is unmistakable. Perhaps for the last weekend it will be all corrected. There are a lot of lessons to be learned there.
Editor”s Note: Performances take place at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in Weaver Auditorium at the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum. Cost of tickets is $15 for reserved seating and $12 for general admission with a $2 discount for students, seniors and LCTC members. Tickets are available at Watershed Books, 305 N. Main St. in Lakeport, 263-5787; and at the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum, 995-3565. For more information call 279-2595.
