Brooke Hardman Ditchfield and Brian Ditchfield at Circuit Arts are quite dynamic duos in the creative arts scene on the Vineyard. The director of Circuit Stage and Circuit Arts executive director, respectively, have launched a brand-new endeavor that will hopefully become an Island tradition — a live radio play version of “A Christmas Carol,” with caroling and wassailing aplenty. The performance will run at the Grange from Thursday, Dec. 19, through Sunday, Dec. 22. And, through an exciting collaboration, the radio play will also be broadcast on WMVY Radio on Christmas Eve.
WMVY Radio Executive Director P.J. Finn reflects on the partnership: “The collaboration is certainly in the spirit of the holiday! Our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day programming has always had a ‘throwback’ element. It’s the one time of the year when the station mixes in classical music and golden-era standards from artists like Mel Tormé and Bing Crosby. To be able to add an old-fashioned radio play to that mix is such a great fit. We’re so grateful that we can share the fruits of Circuit Arts’ hard work on this production.”
This is certainly not the first of Brian and Brooke’s joint endeavors. The couple met at theater camp as teenagers, and have collaborated ever since. They studied, performed, produced, and directed shows together at Boston University. “We then worked in theater and film together right after school. It’s been a joy to be creative together again,” Brian says.
The idea was born when Brian reread the Dickens novella: “I was so taken by it that I started looking into theatrical productions and other versions. I didn’t feel like they were true to Dickens’ text. We all know the story well. But what I was swept up with when reading was how intricate and beautiful the language was. I didn’t feel like the other versions focused on the text enough. So Brooke said, ‘Let’s dive in and start working on it together.’”
Brooke did the first pass, cutting the story into a manageable length. She also made it into a script format, deciding what could be a line of dialogue, where the narration would be, and when there was potential for music and sound effects for the radio. The couple then tossed it back and forth, sometimes stealing moments to work on the script simultaneously.
Brooke continues, “I’m really happy that Brian is getting to do some more creative things. We all know him as an arts administrator and leader in the community. Knowing what a fantastic actor and director he is, it’s wonderful to see him finally get to stretch those muscles again.”
Brian notes, “Now is another part of the fun process, where we get to put it on its feet onstage. Then we’ll change it again.” There will be about a dozen in the cast. “We didn’t hold auditions, because it was born out of us saying to our friends, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if we did this?’ Then it just sort of snowballed. The cast is a cross-section of community members. All of them have a love for and experience in theater,” Brooke adds.
There have been a few challenges, the first being carving out the time to create despite their hectic schedules. Brooke comments, “Although we work in the arts, so much of the time goes into the not-so-glamorous parts — raising money, wrapping up the end of the season, grant-writing, the scheduling of the time, and so forth.” Then there was the fact that the show was supposed to be performed last winter, but the heat broke in the theater. Brian laughs, “Then we thought, Let’s take this as a blessing in disguise and give ourselves more time.”
Brooke has long-term hopes for the show. “I’d been in a recurring production, playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in the New Repertory Theater in Boston for a long time. I knew the potential ‘A Christmas Carol’ had to be a beloved tradition for a community, and did so here on the Island, too, because, at the heart of it, it’s a great ghost story. But it’s also about redemption, what it means to be a good human, to have a good heart, to be a generous person and kind member of your community — and knowing that you belong to such a special community here, and being grateful for that. We should always be like this, but it’s a special time in the calendar when we purposefully reflect on how thankful we are, activate our generosity, and show how beautiful it can be to be a human being with others.”
“A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play” at the Grange, Thursday, Dec. 19, to Sunday, Dec. 22. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available at circuitarts.org/achristmascarol.
