Of the too-many stage variations of Charles Dickens’ Scrooge story this time of year, the one that’s found its place in my cold, black heart is the Keegan Theatre’s An Irish Carol.
Now in its 14th year, revisiting the solid play by Matthew J. Keenan, who also devised the detailed set, is as comfortable as stopping into a neighborhood bar during the holidays — to see old friends, sure, but also to get away from the sickly sweet and often insincere fare elsewhere.
Three of the main cast members have been in their roles for all 14 seasons, chief among them Kevin Adams as the brooding bar owner David with the worst holiday attitude, and Timothy H. Lynch as the wiseguy in corduroy and a Santa cap, Frank. One can’t imagine An Irish Carol without either of them.
Keenan’s Carol, under the direction of Mark A. Rhea, has a number of comparable plot points as Dickens’ original — with relatives and charity workers angrily dismissed, ordering Bartek to work Christmas Day despite a special aged child (a little girl, not a Tiny Tim). And while there are opportunities for David to look back at his life, consider its present, and get a chilly glimpse of his dim future, there’s no need to bring in the rigamarole of three ghosts ushering in each at the stroke of each hour.
It’s almost as if the fuss and what’s become cliché in A Christmas Carol has been scrubbed such that underlying pain is still there. And David’s character is not motivated by money, as Scrooge was, but has developed an anger at the world because of a lost love we eventually learn about. Adams’ wordless reaction to a letter from beyond the grave provides the nudge to the beginnings of a turnaround and while it does seem to happen quickly, it’s not as instant as the usual giddy Scrooge turkey scene.
I have learned that An Irish Carol is not for everybody. Without carols and with very little sentimentality, the play with a lot of cursing (but some well-timed laughs) may be as off-putting to some as visiting dive bars is for the genteel. For those of us who revel at the flawed humanity in such scenes, it’s just the right holiday tonic each year.
