A Christmas Carol

Anthony Lawton

Anthony Lawton, co-creator and storyteller is nothing short of brilliant in his performance of Lantern Theater’s presentation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, performed in the Black Box Theatre at Drexel University's  URBN Center Annex through January 6, 2019. In collaboration with sound designer Christopher Colucci and lighting designer Thom Weaver, Anthony Lawton has devised an adaptation of the classic A Christmas Carol in which he superbly plays all the roles. Entering the stage in a tattered circus ringmaster’s outfit with clown face make-up, Lawton begins relating to the audience with tidbits about Christmas cheer and small magic tricks before describing Scrooge. The Scrooge description isn’t a word or two or even a one or two sentence description. Lawton speaks very slowly and forcefully to the audience as he describes each nasty adjective and his voice gets louder, then softer as he walks all around the small stage, peering into the eyes of the audience members. This is a description of a man everyone can picture. As excellent as Anthony Lawton is throughout his two hour performance - portraying all of the characters in different voices, narrating the sections that have no immediate dialogue, and dancing around the stage with a joie de vie that would make a younger man exhausted - co-collaborators Christopher Colucci and Thom Weaver have made excellent contributions to the show as well. Colucci’s sound effects are marvelous. Thom Weaver never disappoints. The lighting on Anthony Weaver’s face when he portrays Marley and later the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future are fantastic; the ambiance is surreal and the actor appears to be another character altogether. Ring in your holiday with this is exceptional presentation. For more information or tickets, call 215-829-9002 or visit online at www.lanterntheater.org.