A Dickens retelling at Gesa

WALLA WALLA — Experience “A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story” in a creative retelling offered through the Live-Cinema program at Gesa Power House Theatre.

Mark Gatiss, an actor and creator well known for his work in the series “Sherlock,” wrote and stars as Jacob Marley in this retelling of Dickens’ classic winter ghost story. This powerful tale of life, love, loss, and redemption is as relevant today as when the original was published 179 years ago.

“Gatiss’s script is surprisingly faithful, given his flair for imaginative reworks of canonical stories (from “Dracula” to “Sherlock,”) and some dialogue is unchanged along with the words of the narrator (Christopher Godwin)” The Guardian.

On a cold Christmas Eve, the mean-spirited and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Nicholas Farrell, has an unexpected visit from his former business partner Jacob Marley’s ghost. Marley, played by Gatiss, is in chains as punishment for a lifetime of greed. He explains it isn’t too late for Scrooge to change his miserly ways to escape the same fate, but first, he’ll have to face three more eerie encounters.

Though the story will be familiar, Gatiss’s attention to the original’s dark humor and use of special stage effects makes this a fresh look at the classic. Dickens’s storytelling had a theatricality, and this production brings it out with the help of puppets, lighting effects, and a spectral cloud of ghosts that suddenly emerge and swing around the auditorium.

The Theatre will present two screenings of “A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story” on Thursday, December 1, at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 4, at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets and more information are available at https://phtww.org.