Playwright Charles Evered feels
that pain.
Evered, a Jersey native, has
seen some of his own actor
friends play Scrooge so often
that they have nervous break-
downs each year. In their honor,
he has come up with An Actor’s
Carol, a new take on the tale and
one that will strike a chord with
members of the theatre com-
munity who yearn for something
different to present each Christ-
mas. The New Jersey premiere
of the play is being presented by
Cape May Stage now through
December 30th.
In An Actor’s Carol, a classi-
cally trained actor named Hugh
Pendleton is playing the role of
Scrooge for his nephew’s little
theater and is suffering from
severe burnout. He’s been play-
ing that role year after year and
cannot take it anymore. So, af-
ter the final performance of the
run he gets a bit too drunk, has
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 53
an argument with his nephew,
and is visited by three ghosts of
his own.
The ghosts include the Critic of
Christmas Past, the Stage Man-
ager, and, worst of all, his agent
who is his Marley and takes him
through the choices he’s made
through his life.
An Actor’s Carol features three
actors playing 16 different char-
acters. Everyone but the Hugh
Pendleton character plays mul-
tiple roles. This sets things up as
almost a drunken dream for him
in which everyone looks some-
what alike, but not truly alike.
And it creates a fun, zany experi-
ence for the audience. The Cape
May Stage production stars John
Little as Hugh, Kirsten Hopkins,
Kevin Cristaldi, and Karack Os-
born. Roy Steinberg directs.
“It’s kind of a meta examination
of A Christmas Carol,” explained
Evered. “At the same time, it’s
kind of an homage to it because
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