Review: ‘A Christmas Carol’ will make you believe kindness can win

There’s a moment early in the Goodman Theatre’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol” when Ebenezer Scrooge’s lone relation — here, gender-swapped to a niece, Frida (Dee Dee Batteast) — quotes from Charles Dickens’ novella to extol the virtues of Christmas as “a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

I don’t know whether I subscribe to this rosy view; it’s hard to scan the news and think that December will offer any relief in the vast amount of suffering that humans inflict on one another. Even in Dickens’ day, perhaps this statement was less a reflection of the author’s opinion than an aspiration placed in the mouth of one of his most optimistic characters.

And yet, each year the Goodman turns out another relentlessly wholesome and hopeful staging of this classic that makes you believe it’s true. That change is possible. That kindness can win.

Jessica Thebus returns for a third season to direct the seasonal staple, adapted by Tom Creamer and now in its 46th year at the Goodman. In 2022, Thebus’ staging opened with a young cast member singing a Ukrainian carol, a nod to the plight of a people at war. Of course, peace has yet to come to Ukraine — and many other parts of the world — while new conflicts dominate the headlines. Thus the 2023 production begins with the ensemble singing the traditional round “Dona nobis pacem” — a more universal, albeit Catholic-inspired, cry for peace.

Daniel José Molina, Amira Danan, Larry Yando and cast in the 2023 production of "A Christmas Carol" at the Goodman Theatre. (Liz Lauren/HANDOUT)

In his 16th outing as Scrooge, Larry Yando’s performance is far from stale, although Austin Tichenor will step into the role for eight shows this year. On opening night, Yando was in fine form with his usual attention to detail in the way Scrooge growls “Cratch-IT!” at his beleaguered clerk, snickers at his own malicious humor and primps as he waits for the first ghost. And his transformation from coldhearted miser to avuncular philanthropist is still a sight to behold. The audience responded with a collective “aw” when Scrooges declares in disbelief, “I’m … happy!”

Of course, before he gets to this cathartic ending, Scrooge must visit Christmases past, present and future, guided by three spirits (Lucky Stiff, Bethany Thomas and Daniel José Molina, who also plays young Scrooge). Each time I see this play, one of these scenes sticks in my memory more than the others, and this year it will undoubtedly be the party thrown by Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig (Robert Schleifer and Penelope Walker), the former being Scrooge’s employer as a young adult. The revelers sing in some half dozen languages, and the entire group joins Fezziwig in using American Sign Language. It’s a joyful, inclusive gathering that shows Scrooge just how much he has missed by shunning all human sympathy in the intervening years.

Thebus balances such cheerful scenes with some truly terrifying moments. Even before the ghost of Jacob Marley (Kareem Bandealy) appears, Scrooge is haunted by the apparition of a hungry child (Viva Boresi) he had driven from his doorstep earlier that night. This new horror element paves the way for an effective jump scare when Marley makes his entrance. As the other bookend to the series of paranormal visitors, the Ghost of Christmas Future again wears the beaked mask of a medieval plague doctor, and this year, the spirit turns an iron wheel of fate and is joined by two ominous crows (Amira Danan and Amir Henderson).

Horror gives way to pathos when Scrooge witnesses in a potential future the death of Tiny Tim (Christian Lucas). Thomas J. Cox gives a standout performance as Tim’s father and Scrooge’s employee, Bob Cratchit, who is timid and submissive in his abusive workplace but warm and loving at home — and heartbreaking in his grief. Scrooge is tormented by his own cruel words, flung back at him with righteous anger by the Ghost of Christmas Present, as he grows to care about the fate of the Cratchit family.

Just as Scrooge comes through this dark night of the soul to a kinder, happier future, so the Goodman’s production takes the audience on a journey through fear and sorrow to joy and hope. During what is a difficult season for many, “A Christmas Carol” urges us to open our hearts to our fellow passengers through this life. May even the most cynical among us take heed.