A Christmas Carol Scrooge & Marley
BY LAURA RASKIN INDEPENDENT ARTS WRITER

From left: Mark Carapezza as young scrooge, and John Devaney as scrooge. Members of the Cratchit family include, from left, Alex Kopko, Ciaran Byrne, Chris Lind and Dominic Costanzo. ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent

Being a flight attendant for American Airlines is the source of international inspiration for

Meredith Martin’s day job as a director for the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. On a recent flight to London, Martin had time to look at the worn paving stones and stoops of the city, the setting for TWN’s big holiday show, “A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley.”

“Yeah! We’re going to paint the floors like this,” recalled Martin. Although she spends 12 to 15 days a month in the stratosphere and on other landmasses, when Martin is home, she is home. Her full attention is on the large ensemble cast production of “A Christmas Carol,” which opens tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 1, at Bennett Hall.

Martin seems to have garnered a reputation for handling larger island productions. This is her third big show in a row, the last two being Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

While a maypole for community togetherness, large shows can be problematic, said Martin. There are limited resources on an island, both monetary and human. Other community events are competition. Nantucket is not like New York City, outside of which Martin grew up, where advertisements for non-paying acting gigs go up and the masses have to be turned away.

But Martin is quick to balance her disappointments with the joys of community theater and all there is to be grateful for on the island. “The main thing I would love to stress is the importance of having community theater. I think it’s important at least once a year to have a big community production that involves everybody,” said Martin. “What I would like to see is a more unilateral effort to support that.”

Indeed, the cast of “A Christmas Carol” is a cross-section of the island, with veteran actor John Devaney in the role of Scrooge, the crystal-clear narration of the British painter and stage presence, David Lazarus as Marley, ghost and narrator, and the rest of the cast of 25 ranging in experience and age.

Most of the Cratchit family in an emotional moment together, above. Director Meredith Martin, right, is an actress in her own right and a flight attendant. She has directed many island productions.

Martin likes Israel Horovitz’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” because the otherwise underutilized Marley is showcased and becomes the narrator. Martin has been teaching an acting class and has found that many of her students now in the show have achieved a basic understanding of the art of drama. She can spend less time teaching technique during rehearsal and more time directing.

“It’s like learning to develop a common language,” she said. Martin also loves to work with children and has a share of them in this production. “In some ways, it’s easier because they’re much more open. The best acting comes from a place of innocence and a place of wonder. It’s nothing but make believe. Children are really good at that,” she said.

Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol” has not been produced on the island for several years in any adaptation. The story is often given credit for envisioning the Christmas that is familiar now, explained Assistant Director Kate Splaine in a recent rehearsal. And as Martin said, who doesn’t love a story of reclamation? Of a miserable person finding peace through renewed innocence?

What makes this production sweet for Martin is her two “non-negotiables” – Lazarus and Devany in the principle roles. “That’s a blessing, “ said Martin. “They’re wonderful.”

The play is fast moving and technical, with a lot of magic and comical ghosts.

During a rehearsal a few weeks back for an early scene in the play, the actors were still forgetting lines and figuring out their entrances and exits. But, with Devaney dressed slightly to part and a shivering Bob Cratchit sitting next to him, the scene was transporting. Devaney, as Scrooge, had already perfected a bark as hollow and as cold as the warehouse office in which he works.

Martin marveled at how everything always comes together. She admits to having wondered, “How is this ever going to come off?” But the progression leading up to opening night is quick. “ There is something about lights going up on opening night that is really magic. There’s an x-factor,” she said.

As such a large production as “Scrooge and Marley” nears its 13show run, Martin has next year’s 50th anniversary of the TWN on her mind.

“It’s so easy to take the arts for granted, and it’s such an important part of our culture in making us whole human beings. We as citizens have to take it on our own shoulders. We have to keep it alive,” she said.

“A Christmas Carol” is at Bennett Hall, Thursdays through Saturdays, Dec. 1 through 17, at 7:30 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. on Dec. 11. To reserve tickets, call 228-4305.

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