~ The following was published in The Floyd Press on December 10, 2009.

Mankind is my business!” bellowed the Ghost of Jacob Marley, played by Emerson Perry during a Sunday evening performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the Sun Hall. This classic tale of redemption and Christmas spirit, the latest Young Actors Co-op (YAC) production, enlisted the talents of the largest cast yet, with many parts suited for young first time performers.

Top hats and bonnets, petticoat dresses, shawls, and eerie ghostly cloaks, along with inventive set designs literally set the stage for an engaging 90 minutes of holiday

entertainment, played to a full house. Period costumes from the nineteenth century were borrowed from Charlotte Atkins’ private vintage collection, sewn by YAC parents Dr. Sue Osborne and Heather Spangler, and found in thrift shops. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Coriander Woodruff) adorned in a wreath of holly loomed large on walking stilts.

The addition of drop microphones by YAC light and sound engineer Woody Woodruff allowed audience members in farthest reaches of the hall to hear first time YAC actor, 7 year old Bert Avellar deliver Tiny Tim’s resounding line “God bless us everyone.” Special tricks of lighting projected Jacob Marley’s haunting face on to Scrooge’s (Cameron

Woodruff) door.

“YAC strives to bring the highest standard of theater excellence to the stage, to provide a creative outlet for youths in the region, and to encourage a love and appreciation for the art of theater in young and old,” the event program reads. Under the direction of Rose McCutchan, the group has proven once again that they are fulfilling that mission. ~ Colleen Redman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com.