Finding the Inner-Scrooge: An Interview with Kevin Gerfen and Timothy Cole

Town & Gown is preparing to debut a new stage-adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I figured rehearsals are a good time to chat with Kevin Gerfen, who plays Ebenezer Scrooge, and Timothy Cole, who is directing his own adaptation of the beloved story. I was especially interested in the process of exploring and developing the main character — of finding the "inner-Scrooge."

To avoid confusion in this tale of two Tims — Timothy Cole interviewed by Tim Prasil — I identify the director as Timothy and myself as TP. (I'm lucky Tiny Tim Cratchit doesn't do interviews!)

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TP: This might be mostly for Kevin, the actor, but I'd like to know what Timothy has to say, too. What have you discovered in Scrooge that you suspect few others have noticed? Maybe a lingering sadness or a persistent anger. Maybe a pain or a frustration. Maybe something else entirely. Is this something you're trying to reveal through — or, at least, hint at — in the performance?

Kevin: I have come to think that Scrooge’s hostility and his determination to push people away (including Fred, his nephew) are rooted in an intense, almost unbearable loneliness that has turned into a deep-seated and bitter anger at the whole world. As a result, he eats his meals alone, his one office employee is terrified of him, people on the street turn away from him, and household servants know to keep their distance. Only his nephew tries to maintain a relationship with him. I see Scrooge’s cantankerous personality shaped less by greed than by loneliness and regret borne of unfortunate past choices in life that seem now too late to undo.

Other than their obvious business partnership (“Scrooge & Marley”), I don’t know what relationship Scrooge and Jacob Marley had while Marley was alive. Timothy Cole says Scrooge lives in Marley’s old quarters. [More on this below.] That was news to me. Does that mean anything? Was Scrooge already living there before Marley died? Did Scrooge move into those quarters only after Marley died?

Scrooge’s occasional references to Marley, seven years after his passing, clearly show a continued consciousness of him. Marley still seems very much alive in Scrooge’s mind. When Scrooge is alone in the office, he has a one-sided conversation with Jacob Marley at Marley’s still-present-but-unused desk. He is miffed when Fred messes with objects on Marley’s desk. Scrooge even thanks and partly credits Marley near the end of the play for his role in Scrooge’s transformation.

Until I did this show, I saw Marley as little more than a plot device useful for issuing a warning to Scrooge to “straighten up” and to inform Scrooge of the impending visits by the three ghosts. Now, I wonder if there was more “there” there in Scrooge’s and Marley’s relationship.

Some of Scrooge’s personality characteristics were already clear even as a young man. They were manifested by the Teenage Scrooge, who sold the pocket watch given to him by his sister, and who broke off a relationship with a young woman who clearly wanted to marry him and start a family. Perhaps that is when his loneliness began, and he dealt with it by a single-minded focus on being successful in business. Some people just don’t know how to be happy.

Timothy: I lingered a lot on Scrooge's relationship with Marley when I was reading and writing this adaptation. I have not seen all interpretations of Dickens’ story, but something about Scrooge living in Marley's old quarters really stood out to me, so I expanded on their relationship a little bit in a few scenes. There has to be something about their relationship that held Scrooge to Marley after his death when he so easily dismisses everything else in his life.

This illustration of Ebenezer Scrooge appears in an 1868 edition of Dickens' story. This is the old grump's first sign that he's about to have a very, very strange night indeed.

TP: That last question might be unfair. After all, it suggests Scrooge is a fully human character, though some might argue he's more a characteristic found in virtually everyone. In other words, he personifies that urge toward greed and selfishness lurking in all of us. As you explore and develop the role, do you think of the main character as an actual guy or as more of a single slice of a personality pizza?

Kevin: I think of Scrooge as an actual person who was thoroughly rattled by the visit and warnings by his former partner, Jacob Marley. Relatively early in his time with the Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge already showed a little softening of the heart when he mentioned his regret at not giving something (a few coins?) to a small boy who sang Christmas carols outside Scrooge’s door the night before. He experiences regret when he is reminded how much pain he caused his girlfriend as a young man. He is truly happy to see old friends, Mr. Fezziwig and Dick Wilkens, at a work party.

Timothy: I do see how originally Scrooge was intended to be a certain set of morals projected for people to see, but I also think that in his long life so far — over 100 years —he has developed into more of a fully fledged character. It is hard to talk about Scrooge or A Christmas Carol and not have all the different movies and stage plays and radio shows and things enter the conversation because that is how most everyone knows him. When I reread the book over a year ago, I saw how a lot of adaptations humanize Scrooge more so than the book does. I added a throughline in my adaptation that connects many of the different versions of Scrooge that we see back to each other, and I hope it shows people even more growth in his character than what they are used to.

The rehearsal process allows the director to work out "blocking" (meaning where actors stand, walk, etc.) while the actors work on their lines. This is also when the director and actors collaborate to better understand their character and to fine-tune their performance.

TP: Dickens ends A Christmas Carol by saying that Scrooge saw no more ghosts after his crazy night and, "it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge." Do you buy the notion that Scrooge was permanently reformed? Overnight? How long do you think Scrooge's lifestyle reversal lasted? Personally, I give it three days — tops!

Kevin: Yes. Absolutely yes. Scrooge stared into the face of death and even saw a cemetery headstone with his name engraved on it. Yes, Scrooge changed, and the change stuck. Wouldn’t you do the same if you were visited by three ghosts?

Timothy: This is a very good question. When I was writing this I thought a lot about Scrooge before the story takes place, and I don’t mean just age-wise. I wanted to think about how he met Jacob Marley and what his relationship was like with his sister into adulthood and his relationship with Belle, other than the few scenes we see in the book. The story really gives us the happy ending we have been wanting the whole time, and I think as readers, actors and writers, we don’t want to think past that happy ending — but I am sure that Scrooge truly wasn’t changed overnight. I like to think his mood probably shifted with the seasons, and maybe every Christmas time he was reminded of what happened and reverted to being overly nice.

Many of the cast and crew members sang carols at Iron Monk Brewery to promote the show and to celebrate the release of "Bah! Hum-Beer," a part of the proceeds being donated to the theatre. Afterward, Morgan Reynolds and her band took the stage with a mix of popular and original music. Morgan will also be spotlighted at Town & Gown's upcoming Denim & Diamonds New Year's Eve Celebration!

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As do the professionals, actors and directors in community theater use the rehearsal process to delve into and make decisions about a play's characters, and the answers above have got me thinking. Can the story of A Christmas Carol be understood in terms of Scrooge's struggling with grief, first for his sister, Fan, and then for this friend, Marley? Should this tale — filled with wonder and magic — be analyzed in terms of psychology, something we can more reasonably apply to, say, a Tennessee Williams play? And finally the question I assume is on everyone's mind: is there any chance that Kermit the Frog will show up? (Oh, wait — the Muppets are owned by Disney now, so almost certainly not.)

My thanks to Kevin Gerfen and Timothy Cole for answering my not-always-entirely-serious questions. Maybe some of the ideas they express here will kindle your own post-show contemplation or discussion, and I'm sure they both join me in inviting you to enjoy A Christmas Carol at the Town & Gown Theatre. Opening Night is Thursday, December 4th. Afterward, the show will run for three "long" weekends. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday shows start at 7:30 pm, and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm. You'll find ticket information here.