Warm your holiday spirit with this delightful spin off the Dickens’ classic.

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol

Everyone knows the iconic Ebeneezer Scrooge and the original A Christmas Carol. Scrooge has become so ubiquitous the name is an insult, sometimes a pejorative verb, and productions and parodies abound.

But what of Jacob Marley; that unfortunate spirit who appears ‘bearing the chains he forged in life’? Wasn’t he as much of a scrooge as Scrooge himself? And most importantly, is Marley not deserving of a chance at redemption just as Scrooge is? Surely being dead is not an insurmountable obstacle for an immortal soul.

Whether you view the seasonal resurgence of Dickens’ story as overdone or a treasured tradition, Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol breathes new, enchanting life into the classic and it is not to be missed. It is somehow faithful to the Dickens’ world, while at the same time surpassing the source. Marley is woven for modern audiences, with a more complex character arc that evokes Scrooge’s journey while being deeper, richer, and more relatable.

The script by award-winning playwright Tom Mula is a storytelling masterpiece, having received the prestigious Cunningham Prize from the Goodman School of Drama at Depaul. Marley received four Joseph Jefferson nominations and an After Dark Award for its premiere at the Goodman. The audio version won an INDI Award for Spoken Word and has been broadcast nationwide on NPR for seven seasons.

And it is no wonder Marley and Mula have been so acclaimed. Markey is innovative while staying true to the spirit of the original Christmas Carol. Mula’s tale takes us ‘off-stage’ in Dickens’ world, with all the traditional scenes happening but not from Scrooge’s point of view – and sometimes not even on stage. Between those well-known moments, it is Marley who carries us from the spirit world to the earthly world of Christmas spirit.

Anyone who has experienced any version of A Christmas Carol will find themselves in a familiar realm with Marley, albeit from an unfamiliar vantage point. Our tale begins with a Jacob Marley who is dead; really quite sincerely dead. A haughty and imperious Marley is met by the ancient Record Keeper, the impenetrable bureaucrat of The Other Side. Marley is forced to face his powerlessness and the looming consequences of his actions in the afterlife. When Marley realizes he cannot bully, buy or beg a reprieve from the Record Keeper (who makes it clear that ‘forgiveness is not my department’), Marley gets an offer he can’t refuse: eternal damnation or convince Scrooge to have a full, complete, and voluntary change of heart in 24 hours or less. With that as his only option, our anti-hero sets off on his quest, saddled with an adorably snippy queen of a Bogle as comic sidekick and savvy sprit guide. Along the way Marley grapples with his own demons, loses everything in betrayal, and wrestles with his own dark night of the soul. Though Marley starts off selfishly seeking an escape from hell, he undergoes his own epiphanies – but will they be enough to save him from an eternity of the heavy chains of his past?

Phil Timberlake returns to this solo show, for which he previously received a Non-Equity Jeff Nomination, Best Performer. Timberlake’s theater history is studded with Jeff Nominations for his acting, and includes a Non-Equity Jeff Award, Best Production for Lifeline’s production of The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol is a storyteller’s dream, and solo shows with multiple characters such as this are incredibly demanding. Timberlake is a maestro on the Stradivarius-level instruments that are his voice and physical form. Timberlake as a master of his vocal instrument is no surprise. He coached dialects at the Goodman, was the voice and dialect coach with First Folio Theatre for several shows, and most recently taught actors as the Head of Voice and Speech at the Theatre School, DePaul University.

Timberlake has incredible vocal range. As narrator, his voice is at its richest, a thick velvet cloak that wraps the audience and draws them in with a hypnotic power. As the Bogle he is a sharp-tongued, twisted sort of Tinkerbell and his voice somehow actually tinkles. His physical comedy as the Bogle is also a source of continuing delight.

With incredible skill Timberlake flips between the voices, postures, and delivery of the multiple characters. Several times his lightning-quick flips build in a series that sends the audience into wild laughter. The interactions between Bogle and Marley are fantastically funny, driven by Timberlake’s flawless physical transformations and the slapstick he deftly handles from both sides.

Overall there is a light-hearted, fairytale quality to the show. Laughter and Bogles, myth and powers Marley didn’t know he possessed. But there is depth here too, and scenes of vulnerability and heartbreak that Mula’s script requires and Timberlake delivers in spades. When Marley is surprised with his own demons past, Timberlake rises to the challenge of giving us a sincere and believable child. When Marley is hit with a devastating betrayal Timberlake makes us viscerally feel the fall as the bottom drops out of his world. In a moment that is hauntingly moving, Timberlake’s Marley truly sees his chains as the evil, mortal sin of greed that they are. In this unscripted lightning-strike of realization Timberlake is absolutely transportive.

The minimalist set assists Timberlake in creating new scenes through his posture and body language. Lighting by Diane Fairchild (Production Manager and Lighting Design) is phenomenally effective, building mood, and spinning the space of the spirit world or the many more mundane locations. With Fairchild’s lighting the Ghost of Christmas Present glows. the child Jacob is somehow tiny and Ghost Marley is transformed into a gruesome corpse by a miasma of green light and Timberlake’s astounding physical skill.

Marley flies by in 90 enchanted minutes with a 10-minute intermission. Whatever redemption you need, Marley reminds us to embrace your best self and ‘bless the darkness as bright and shining stars’ because don’t we all need a little hope that the greedy will see the light in these dark times?

Recommended.

Reviewed by Soleil Rodrigue

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol runs December 5 -21, Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through October 5. All shows at the Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are $45 and may be purchased online at lifelinetheatre.com Military, senior and student discounts available.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.