Ditch your inner Scrooge and head for the theater

Every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!" rages Scrooge, Charles Dickens' famous king of stinge. Canadian actor / director Jonathan Geenen will echo these words as the star of East West Theater's (EWT) coming production of "A Christmas Carol." Yet he and his group of thespians don't tout the "bah humbug!" attitude. Their tenacious and resourceful nature imbues them with a relentlessly positive outlook that could easily rival Bob Crachett's.

EWT's past stretches back to 2006 when six good spirits, headed by enthusiast Rob Tromp, set out to give Shanghai theater some heart. Offering grassroots community theater for a handful of pennies, they soon attracted other theatrical souls, fresh and seasoned. Finding rehearsal haunts was a challenge until Geenen was introduced to Tromp through fellow player Christy Shapiro. The resilient director put the right ingredients on the table, marketing EWT, gaining sponsorship, securing venues and pushing the players to their limits. "I'm not an easy man to work with," he admits–the performers vigorously nod their heads. Yet for a few, like newcomer James Tarris, it's their first time working with a professional director. "Having a director and seeing what can be done makes it worthwhile," says Tarris.

Presently, Geenen is confident he needs nothing more than a skeleton cast, a chair or two, an atmosphere and an audience to recreate Dickens' moral tale. EWT is indeed resourceful. Finding Jacob Marley's chains has been as burdensome as the ghostly shackles themselves. Their odd requests have gotten them evicted from several chain producers on suspicion of human trafficking, to say nothing of the utter disbelief of tailors at the sudden trend in Victorian bodices. "We make it all from scratch," notes Geenen proudly. "The set, the props, the costumes, everything."

So what of the future? Haunted by venue issues and hungry for a producer, they're determined as ever. Following the success of "Our Town," "The Dinner Table," and "Our Country's Good," "A Christmas Carol" is likely to prove one of their biggest draws to date and no amount of Scroogedom can topple them into the grave. As EWT stalwart Charmaine Grey says, "It's all about the play for us. Our spirits are in it." So to Shanghai, we say, this Christmas, every idiot who goes about with "'A Christmas Carol' is not for me" on his lips, should be boiled in his own humbug, and buried with a stub of ticket through his heart!

By Claire Methven

When: Dec. 6-9, 8pm
Where: Children's Art Theatre of China Welfare Institute
Cost: ¥100 Tel: 134-8232-0227
Email: east.west.info@gmail.com