2020 certainly is going to be a year that we will try
to put behind us for so many reasons.
Covid-19's final bite of the year for those of us connected with Powerhouse was to take away the opportunity to present live on stage a reading of 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. This was to be a reading, by four actors, of Dickens own abridged version of the novella which he deemed suitable for live readings.
That all came to an end with the extension of the Provincial Orders on Dec 8th. Despite not being able to get together to do this 'live', the four readers went into the theatre one by one where a camera was set up and read their lines individually - on different days with just one other distanced tech person in attendance.
The job of editing both the soundtrack and then the video was enormous, hence the delay in getting this out to you. But here it is, a READING of Christmas Carol. I emphasize the reading element because if and/or when you watch it, you will understand that this is not 'the play'. You will notice some 'jumpy' frames as you watch. Because we couldn't do this in real-time, those connecting frames are inevitable because adjustments for timing had to continually be made to make the story 'flow'.
This production was never meant to be captured in this way. This was only meant to be done live, in the theatre, with an audience. Once we knew that couldn't happen, we decided to give it a shot because we wanted to give something to our membership that came from the Powerhouse after nearly a year of inactivity. Of course, you don't have to watch it. Jackson, Eileen, Paul, and Bob won't be offended. You could simply listen as an audiobook and enjoy the story. It's your call.
Whatever you choose, please accept this offering from a small group of people who are way more at home in live theatre than messing around with audio and video editing. However, if you enjoy what you watch or listen to, please consider making a donation to the Vernon Food Bank in lieu of a ticket to the theatre. That was always the intention of our readings, had we performed them as planned.
Please accept our best wishes to you and yours this holiday season.
Thank you for your continued support.
Here's to a Joy-Filled 2021 and, hopefully,
the opportunity to bring live events back to the stage.