There is an undeniable cozy comfort in the ritual of gathering together to hear a familiar story. King Theatre Company’s intimate production of A Christmas Carol understands this completely – and delivers it in spades. Presented at Schomberg Community Hall, Jacqueline Goldfinger’s streamlined adaptation offers a warm, thoughtfully crafted take on Charles Dickens’ perennially popular ghost story — one that feels especially attuned to the community gathered to see it.
As we know, the story centres on misanthropic miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve. With prompting from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Be, he faces an existential fork in the road, and must choose between continuing his lonely life of avarice or finding redemption in his community.
A hit since its publication in 1843, the classic story is so recognizable and so often interpreted that it’s become synonymous with the Christmas season. There are literally innumerable versions: written, filmed, and theatrical. So the challenge of a new production is less making a case for the story’s value than finding a fresh way to tell it.
Here, the King Theatre Company has succeeded with aplomb. This brisk and immersive production leans into the idea of storytelling as a co-creative and communal act. Artistic director Chloë Rose Flowers directs with care and an assured simplicity, orchestrating a charming and family-friendly experience that honours the emotional core of the story, while inviting audiences of all ages to lean in. On the afternoon I attended, the house was full, with multiple generations present. The atmosphere signaled not just a successful run, but a production that community audiences are intentionally choosing as a shared holiday experience.
The immersive tone is set from the moment the audience enters the spacious upper hall. The ensemble—an engaging group of Victorian era-garbed emerging actors, all making their King Theatre Company debut—interacts warmly with the crowd before the show begins. They stroll, chat and yes, even pose for photos, dissolving the boundary between stage and seating. The cast features Mike D. Smith as Scrooge, alongside José Andrés Bordas, Shelagh Carlini, Nathan Chou, Alexa Dimoulas, Isabella Drummond, Andrew Easterling, Ali Farhadi, Luca Mocan, Andrew Pawarroo, Erik Weinhart, and Miranda Wiseman, who fluidly share roles and narration. Young Nathan Chou as the Ghost of Christmas Past is particularly memorable.
That sense of almost boundary-less closeness continues throughout the show, which is performed in the round. The clever, moveable set may seem nondescript at first, but as the show progresses, it unfolds and contracts like a pop-out storybook. In the process, it evokes comfort and nostalgia — while remaining nimble enough to carry us swiftly and dynamically through Scrooge’s journey. As the ensemble takes turns narrating the story and acting their parts while the set reconfigures continuously, the effect is very much one of a tale being read aloud and conjured right before our eyes.
Fine, period-evoking costumes ground the production in Dickens’ Victorian world. And the deliberately somber lighting gives the action the hazy, shifting quality of a dream — as though Scrooge’s memories and visions are unfolding just out of reach (costume design by Sequoia Erickson, lighting design Za Huges and operated by Jennifer Noel-Sheffer). This theatricality supports the storytelling beautifully, allowing scenes to flow seamlessly, aided by Daniel Tessy’s atmospheric sound design that subtly deepens the mood without overwhelming the action.
Live violin and vocal music further enrich the experience. These elements, combined with the ensemble’s fluid role-switching, lend the piece a kinetic feel and cohesive rhythm.
The characters, set and plot are in constant motion. This swirl of playful invention ensures that there are no static moments. It never feels rushed, yet the production delivers the full story in just 70 dynamic minutes, in which all of the story’s emotional turns land — fully.
What strikes me most is the care and love that are evident in the production as a whole. King Theatre Company is clearly thinking about how theatre lives within its community: how it gathers people together, creates tradition, and offers something meaningful in the midst of the holiday season.
This is a production that audiences are embracing, and it is easy to see why. This Christmas Carol feels poised to become an annual tradition—one that could easily sustain a longer run than its current ten performances. Congratulations to King Theatre Company and its enterprising artistic director for delivering a holiday story that feels not just comforting, but fresh, generous and grounded.
King Theatre Company’s A Christmas Carol runs until December 21, 2025 at Schomberg Community Hall. Tickets and performance details are available at kingtheatre.ca.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2025
