English theatre company The Book of Darkness & Light makes its Canadian debut at Saint John Theatre Company with a one-person adaptation of A Christmas Carol, December 5-9.
Matt Carter
It is a rare treat for an artist to visit and share their work in another country. It is an even rarer treat to be invited to the same country twice. But that is exactly what has happened to English playwright, storyteller, and actor Adam Z. Robinson.
In the fall of 2021, Robinson visited Sackville, New Brunswick to see a performance of his play The Book of Darkness & Light – also the name of his touring company – staged by Sackville’s Performers Theatre Company. Now he is returning to the province, this time to perform his own one-actor adaptation of Dickens’ holiday classic, A Christmas Carol.
Robinson will share his unique telling of this holiday classic with audiences at the BMO Studio Theatre in Saint John, December 5-9.
Robinson is an established voice in English theatre specializing in original and adapted gothic ghost stories.
“With my theatre collective, The Book of Darkness & Light, I tour my original ghost story shows up and down England,” said Robinson. “We’ve been touring shows since 2016. The first tour of our ghostly, solo adaptation of A Christmas Carol was in 2019 and we were blown away by the audience reaction.”
Following its debut, an audio version of the one-person play was commissioned by Harrogate Theatre during the early stages of the pandemic which was then live streamed to audiences in December of 2020.
“In 2021, we were able to bring the show back to theatres and then, in 2022, I did a three week residency with the show at Baron’s Court Theatre in London,” he said. “Around that time, Stephen [Tobias] from the Saint John Theatre Company got in touch about the idea of bringing the show to New Brunswick.
“It’s such a thrilling thing for me to be bringing A Christmas Carol to Canada. I love the story so much, in many ways it’s the perfect ghost story. This will be my first international performance, too. I can’t wait to make some new friends in Saint John!”
A Christmas Carol | December 5-9 | BMO Studio Theatre | 7:30 p.m. | Buy Tickets
