Kurt Beattie Returns as ‘Scrooge’ in ACT’s

34^th Annual Production of A Christmas Carol

Seattle, WA – November 4, 2009 – ACT- A Contemporary Theatre presents its 34^rd annual production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, adapted by Gregory A. Falls. This year, A Christmas Carol is directed by Kurt Beattie and R. Hamilton Wright and also features boththe first time in more than a decade. alternating in the role of Scrooge, with Beattie returning to the role for

A Christmas Carol has been a Seattle holiday tradition since 1976. ACT’s highly-acclaimed adaptation follows the original Dickens tale and takes audiences along on Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformational journey.

“A Christmas Carol is profoundly theatrical. It doesn’t rely on massive pieces of scenery to create its magic. It’s pure storytelling. And it doesn’t try to amplify or write more for Charles Dickens– nearly everything that’s in the script is out of the novella,” said ACT Artistic Director Kurt Beattie. “Our adaptation, with great economy, gets the most salient points of the story, and in an unsentimental way. It puts the power of the storytelling in the hands of the actors which allows the play to move very quickly, and fluidly, just as Dickens’ story does – he wanted to evoke a whole society and a whole life’s journey at the same time, and I think ACT’s production achieves that as well.”

A Christmas Carol runs November 27 through December 27, 2009. An audio described performance for the blind and visually challenged community is on December 19 at 2:00 p.m. An ASL performance is on December 11 at 8:30 p.m. A Christmas Carol is recommended for ages five and up.