Community Players bring A Christmas Carol to New Hamburg stage

Tiny Tim (Elanor Woodworth) and Scrooge (Mark Starratt). Photo by Hilary Gauld, One for the Wall Studio

By Amanda Modaragamage

The Community Players of New Hamburg are back for their winter season with the classic, A Christmas Carol, managed by artistic director Brooke Gamble, director Ryan Dunham and assistant director Rachel Conway.

Tickets go on sale Sept. 27 at 9 a.m. There will be nine performances throughout the season, and organizers expect them to sell out quickly.

The play is based on Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella and adapted by John Mortimer. It follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from a miserly old man to one filled with generosity and Christmas spirit.

A Christmas Carol is one of the most frequently performed plays during the holiday season worldwide, staged by both professional theatres and community groups. This adaptation is said to strike a balance between the classic and the modern.

“This is a really interesting perspective on the show,” Dunham said. “It’s a combination of the classic setting and imagery but using more approachable language. This version is a nice balance of modern language, but still true to the time period.”

The New Hamburg community centre will be transformed into a theatre, which Dunham says will be like stepping into a professional venue.

“Basically, we take a normal everyday community hall and turn it into a theatre. We design a stage, bring in bleachers and when you’re in it, you will think this is a professional theatre. But a week later, there are people playing bocce in the same space.”

Each season, hundreds of volunteers of all ages work side by side to produce musicals and plays with the Community Players of New Hamburg, and this year is no different.

“What’s so exciting to me is that we have seasoned professionals who have been in their 20th show, and others who are in their first or second performance ever,” Dunham said.

For those looking to get involved, auditions and volunteer opportunities are posted on the group’s website.

“Getting involved with Community Players of New Hamburg has been great,” said Dunham. “I initially got involved after seeing Anne of Green Gables there and then I auditioned a year later. A lot of people have full-time jobs and they do this because they love it. It’s a really great group of people.”

For more than four decades, the Community Players of New Hamburg have been bringing people together to create live, high-quality, family-friendly theatre.

Tickets and more information are available at www.thecommunityplayers.com.