It's easy to give another Christmas Carol a "bah, humbug." Dickens' heartfelt exploration of the nature of the human heart is often reduced to flashy stage effects at the countless holiday presentations of the work. Tom Mula's one-man show - adapted from his own book of the same name - is something else entirely. Presented on a spartan stage (a couple of chairs, a desk and a beautiful image of space as a backdrop), Mula explores Marley's own road to redemption. Mula takes on a host of characters with plenty of style and wit. (Including Scrooge, a role Mula knows well from his years playing the part at the Goodman Theater in Chicago.) The story follows Marley from just after he dies. He goes directly to hell, where he is "befriended" by a little spirit, the Bogle. There is a way out of hell for Marley, but it means redeeming the most irredeemable character of them all, Scrooge. From there, we follow the events of A Christmas Carol through Marley's eyes, as he tries to save two souls in the span of one Christmas Eve.
One person shows can be problematic. After all, part of theater is collaboration. But Mula's piece is as much about storytelling as theater. Mula has a good yarn to spin. It is material Mula is committed to, which raises the entire experience to another level. Anyway, it's a delight to see such a fine actor (popular in Chicago and, during the summer, at Peninsula Players in nearby Fish Creek) take over the stage for two hours.
