{"id":21840,"date":"2021-11-30T09:50:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T17:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=21840"},"modified":"2021-11-30T09:50:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T17:50:50","slug":"a-christmas-carol-returns-to-craigdarroch-castle-as-solo-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2021\/11\/30\/a-christmas-carol-returns-to-craigdarroch-castle-as-solo-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"A Christmas Carol<\/em> returns to Craigdarroch Castle as solo performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

This holiday season, viewers will be visited by three spirits at Craigdarroch Castle in a performance of A Christmas Carol<\/i> by veteran local actor Jason Stevens. Stevens\u2014who is returning for his tenth year telling the story\u2014brings 19 characters to life in his solo performance of the Dickens classic tale of a man beset by greed and bitterness, who, in his last woeful, hateful moments, comes to understand himself and learn to foster joy in those around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story itself is probably in my top five favourites,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect story in terms of its art, artistry, construction, and beauty. I like the idea that a person who is older, who is a malignant and painful canker on the world, can decide at the eleventh hour to embrace the positive aspects of life and make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Halloween, Stevens performed Frankenstein<\/i> at Craigdarroch, and he thinks that there are similarities between the two tales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[A Christmas Carol<\/i> is] a great story, and it\u2019s like Frankenstein<\/i> in the sense that this is a person who became the canker that he was over a period of time and process, and ignored all of the positive influences in his life,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cHe lived in fear of being poor\u2014that was the only evil that he could see, and when you\u2019re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jason Stevens is the actor in a solo performance of A Christmas Carol<\/em> (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stevens says that although Scrooge comes across as being cruel and spiteful, there is a tender soul beneath the repellent exterior. The tale is about healing from past wounds and becoming a better person by being receptive to the joyful kindness given by those who care about us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a story about pain,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cI mean, the thing about Scrooge is that he\u2019s not misunderstood, he\u2019s just identified as being mean, but really, he\u2019s a guy that was traumatized as a child: everyone he loved died or was cruel to him. The world was a hard, nasty place, and he found a way of fighting back. As I get older, I think it\u2019s a great quality to be able to embrace good things, and be able to unclench your fist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Classic stories that are repeated year in and out could become stagnant over time, but for Stevens, A Christmas Carol<\/i> is in no danger of this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of those things that doesn\u2019t stagnate,\u201d he says. \u201cIt never gets old for me. I love every story I do, but there\u2019s nothing I love more than A Christmas Carol<\/i>. I feel 12 years old when I\u2019m telling it, and I also feel ageless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens says that forming a connection with the viewers who are standing mere feet from him is the greatest reward for a storyteller, and it gets better every time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like going to a movie, and it\u2019s not like going to a play; it\u2019s not like going to any other kind of live entertainment I can even think of; it\u2019s far more intimate,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s something about saying those magical words in that magical place to the people who want to be there and hear that, and have that experience. It\u2019s a story that just gets better in the telling; there\u2019s so much to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The underlying theme behind A Christmas Carol<\/i>, says Stevens, is that even in times of darkness and sorrow, each person has the capacity to change, to better themselves, and become a positive impact upon the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the main message that I would like people to take away from this is that it\u2019s the darkest, coldest time of the year, and as we move into the light with the new year, we can all transform ourselves,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s never too late to be what you wish to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Christmas Carol
\n<\/i>Various times and dates,
\nSaturday, December 11 to Friday, December 24
\n$30, Craigdarroch Castle
\nthecastle.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This holiday season, viewers will be visited by three spirits at Craigdarroch Castle in a performance of A Christmas Carol by veteran local actor Jason Stevens. Stevens\u2014who is returning for his tenth year telling the story\u2014brings 19 characters to life in his solo performance of the Dickens classic tale of a man beset by greed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21842,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21840\/revisions\/21842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}