Madison Long
Life Editor
“If they’re going to die, they better do it and decrease the surplus population,” says Ebenezer Scrooge.
The audience lets out a small chuckle, though their attention is immediately tugged back towards the stage as his nephew Fred rambles about the true meaning of Christmas. Tucked in the back right corner of the set, Kallis Shibahara, the show’s live foley artist, skims the “A Christmas Carol” script on hand, hovering over her table of trinkets. Their fingers tighten around a small bell, breath catching as they eye the edge of the stage where Fred – played by Dio Hadley – will exit.
The moment Hadley’s foot grazes the steps, Shibahara shakes the bell to life, its jingle standing in for a shop door’s chime. The technique, named after sound-effects pioneer Jack Foley, blends seamlessly into the action on stage, so much so that most of the crowd never notices her. One college student, attending with friends, even jumps when she finally spots Shibahara in the shadows.
Shibahara barely pauses. She reaches behind her table, fishing for a heavy chain. Swiftly, she rakes it across the floor, an echoing scrape that summons the ghost of Jacob Marley.
“I was very nervous at first, I’m not an actor, and I hate being the center of attention,” says Shibahara, a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, “But when you’ve got a job to do, it’s like the audience disappears, and you just get to be a part of a story. It was also a great way to connect with the cast members in a way I never had before, both on and off stage.”
To spark holiday spirit in Pocatello, the ISU stages Ann Hostes’ adaptation of Charles Dickens’ beloved novella. First written in 1843, 6,000 copies were sold just four days after its release. It has since been adapted into movies, television series, public readings, and plays, each adding its own flavor.
This year – November 14, 15, 20, 21, and 22 – ISU performed their hour-and-a-half production under the direction of assistant professor of theatre and dance Jef Petersen. Alongside actors Eric Lundell and Jack Johnson (Master of Ceremonies), Gregory Jon Phelps (Ebenezer Scrooge), Damon Harding (Bob Cratchit), and Autumn Bodily (Tiny Tim), the audience was whisked straight into 19th-century London.
As the audience rolls into the Bistline Theatre, carolers begin their merry tunes, led by Rebecca Collier and accompanied by professional fiddle player Orla O’Connor. A short tour down the black entryways opens up with wreath-wrapped aisles and a stage set with paintings of snow-capped roofs and frosted windows.
“Every idiot that says ‘Merry Christmas’ should be boiled alive,” remarks Scrooge.
He snarls his way through work and all the way home, only relaxing after his frightful interaction with Marley. Shrugging off his grey suit, Scrooge reveals his fashionable side – a white Moo Moo dressing gown. He reaches behind a large green pleated armchair, pulling out a long stocking cap, the pompom on the end smacking against his knees as he moves about.
Choreographer Bethany Coffin and Petersen, as intimacy coordinator, have taught the actors how to move as one unit, with Scrooge distracting from the flurry of actors behind him as they sweep tables into place and take on the role of a bed.
Two actors hold the edges of a thin blanket as Scrooge slinks behind the “covers, and grows more anxious about the arrival of his ghostly friends – the puppet Ghost of Christmas Past, the painted mask of the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the unseemly dark figure that is the Ghost of Christmases Yet to Come.
“Thousands and thousands of hours” worked – as Shibahara describes – comes from students balancing classes with late nights in the rehearsal halls: the costume team steaming costumes the night before, stage managers mapping out the traffic of actors and audience, light and scenic designers making last-minute tweaks, and other crew refilling the bucket of fake snow for the next show. Shibahara even crocheted the scarves worn by Tiny Tim and the Master of Ceremonies. Others, like Elena Waddoups, pour themselves into character work, summoning her “big sister energy” to embody Martha Cratchit.
“My character reminded me what a big sister should look like. I really loved to entertain Autumn, she was so much fun backstage and added a spark,” added Waddoups, a third year pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. “She reminded me how much I want to be a mom one day. After closing, I literally cried because I was going to miss her.”
Despite Scrooge’s relentless “Bah-humbug,” the audience is captivated – joining in on the final Christmas carols, smirking as the tiny puppet legs of Scrooge kick wildly during his ghostly flights and shuddering when Marley appears, his elongated, stilt-ridden form towering towards the rafter.
For many, the magic isn’t just in the flashing lights, but in the quiet jingle of Shibahara’s bell, the ruffle of Scrooge’s long, white nightcap, and the scuffle of the stage crew resetting the stage. Just after closing, the crew dismantles the world they built, dreaming of the next show, but never forgetting Scrooge’s words: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year.”
“I think that my role in this show, despite how well known it is, is but the smallest sliver of what makes this show, and any show we do, great,” says Harding, a senior. “No one person can make theater; it takes everyone to do such wonderful work.”
