Simpson Productions welcomes holiday season with ‘A Christmas Carol: A Staged Radio Play’

Simpson Productions, the theatre, opera and musical theatre collaboration at Simpson College, kicks off the holiday season with its second virtual performance, “A Christmas Carol: A Staged Radio Play.”

The performance will stream live Monday, Nov. 23 through Sunday, Nov. 29. There is no charge for admission to virtual events but pre-registration is required. Visit simpson.edu/SimpsonProductions for more details.

Based on the classic Charles Dickens tale, “A Christmas Carol: A Staged Radio Play” features actors playing the part of radio players recording the Howard Koch/Orson Welles version of “A Christmas Carol.” The radio studio is set in Indianola, Iowa on Christmas Eve, 1941, just 17 days after the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entrance into World War II.

According to director Mimi Kammer, the uncertainty experienced by the actors in the play at the onset of World War II is not unlike the uncertainty we experience today amid a global pandemic.

“This version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ draws similarities between the era that generated the radio play and the times we are living in today,” said Kammer, associate professor of theatre. “Since the onset of the coronavirus in February, America has been experiencing a very strange time. We don’t know what the world will look like when the pandemic is over. In 1941, people didn’t know what the world would look like once the war was over.”

“A Christmas Carol: A Staged Radio Play” is about ghosts and misers. On Christmas Eve, a company of actors and foley artists meet in a recording studio. Each actor portrays multiple characters, inspired by the Campbell Playhouse Radio Drama starring Orson Welles.

Contact Information
Cathy Cole, Vice President for Marketing and Strategic Communication
Direct: 515-961-1595
Email: cathy.cole@simpson.edu