Celebrate the holiday spirit with Theatre Calgary’s A Christmas Carol, a preview
By Ansharah Shakil, December 3 2024—
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, a welcoming and warm part of the year’s end is the return of annual traditions — ice skating, ballet productions and theatre productions like Theatre Calgary’s A Christmas Carol, an adaptation of the classic 1843 Charles Dickens novella.
A Christmas Carol is one of the most exciting holiday-themed shows that will be coming to Calgary this season. This will be the 37th production of A Christmas Carol in Calgary, running from Nov. 29 to Dec. 29 at the Max Bell Theatre.
What’s nice about the production is that it begins before and ends after Christmas, meaning if tickets are sold out during peak holiday rush season, you can look into getting one at the end of December and carry that cheer into the space between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. During this time, there are many of us frantically thinking of resolutions or hoping for the future to give us the things we want. A Christmas Carol still appeals to audiences today partly because of its belief that people can change — it encourages us to strive to be better in the way we treat others and the way we treat ourselves.
For many people who don’t celebrate Christmas, myself included, it’s still an artistic triumph to see shows like this come alive. They seem to encourage the things that should be a priority during the holidays: celebrating tales of kindness and redemption while supporting your local arts scene.
Charles Dickens’s colourful and unforgettable characters have gone through many iterations over the years, whether that’s the animated Barbie movie or recent Netflix musical, but A Christmas Carol remains a classic tale, cemented into holiday culture as a celebration of some of the best parts of humanity. Theatre Calgary’s presentation of A Christmas Carol is adapted for the stage by Geoffrey Simon Brown and directed by Stafford Arima.
Local actor Doug McKeag took on the iconic role of Scrooge for the first time last year to great success, portraying the misery and hope of Scrooge’s character with clear emotion and skill. McKeag will be reprising the role this year. The performances of the returning and new actors promise to be exciting and audiences can remain in anticipation to see the set design and how it captures the holiday season. Last year was a magical show — this year promises to be the same.
Find tickets and more information about Theatre Calgary’s A Christmas Carol on their website.