WHEN: 8 tonight
WHERE: Deep Dish Theater, University Mall, Chapel Hill
ADMISSION: $10 adults/$6 students and children
ON THE WEB: www.deepdishtheater.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call 968-1515
BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN
dvaughan@heraldsun.com; 419-6563
CHAPEL HILL -- The world of Charles Dickens and his romanticized realism contrasted with social satire appeals to Marc Napolitano just as it does countless others who enjoy Dickens' work, especially the annual tellings of "A Christmas Carol."
Napolitano is no ordinary fan of the Christmas tale -- he is an expert. So who better to perform a stage reading of the story tonight at Deep Dish Theater in Chapel Hill. Napolitano received his doctorate Victorian literature from UNC-CH, where he is now a lecturer in the English department.
"I became very fond of Dickens when I was very young," he said, learning about Dickens' stories through film and television specials of "A Christmas Carol" and "Oliver Twist." In high school, he read the books, and in college at Villanova University, where he studied under a Dickensian expert.
Dickens himself did theatrical readings of his work, going on book tours, Napolitano said, which was new to literary Victorian England. Dickens was ideal for the readings because he was theatrically minded and theatrically gifted, he said.
Napolitano enjoys reading Dickens aloud for audience because "it's a chance to bring these wonderful characters to life on the theatrical stage," he said. This is the first time he has read Dickens at Deep Dish Theater.
"What appeals to me about this reading is that he [Napolitano] is really taking a story that we all think we know back to its roots, creating a presentation not unlike those for which Dickens himself was famous," said Paul Frellick artistic director of Deep Dish. "It's a wonderfully constructed tale, of course, and greatly enlivened by both Marc's familiarity with and his enthusiasm for the author's work."
Napolitano said that in a staged reading, rather than a theatrical production, there is opportunity to include more of Dickens' narrative voice.
"Dickens is such a great storyteller," he said.
Napolitano has checked out this season's other Dickens offerings. PlayMakers Repertory Company at UNC is currently presenting a production of "Nicholas Nickleby," which Napolitano has seen twice and said "felt so Dickensian."
He has also seen the Disney computer generated animation "A Christmas Carol" movie twice. The first time, Napolitano said he was surprised it was made as scary as it was, though it is a ghost story. But on the second viewing, he appreciated the artwork, especially of characters that are both grotesque and beautiful. Combining the grotesque with the beautiful is true to the Victorian illustrations Dickens used when "A Christmas Carol" was published in 1843, he said.
"It struck me as very Victorian," Napolitano said. He'll be dressed as a Victorian "everyman" for the reading tonight. Some might consider him to be Scrooge because he wears a top hat, but even Scrooge becomes a Victorian everyman in the tale, he said.
Napolitano said that "A Christmas Carol" is Dickens' most recognized work but also his most transcendent.
"Yes, it's a Christmas book but it is very allegorical," he said. The story of redemption is meant to be told and retold, Napolitano said, and the use of "carol" in the title puts it in the oral tradition as a fairy tale meant to endure.
"It's written in a way to transcend the written page and strike something in our heart and ear," he said.
