As I mentioned in my last post, I was off to see actor Phil Zachariah portray Charles Dickens in a faithful portrayal of the intimate readings that Dickens gave in his lifetime.

Bottom Line: Highly recommended!

Zachariah was not only convincing as Dickens, he transformed the empty, black-box stage into a visual wonderland featuring the world of Ebeneezer Scrooge and all the other characters we are familiar with.

Zachariah showed off a prowess for creating multiple characters with spot-on voice characterization and expressive movement and use of the stage. The subtle lighting helped to enhance the scene very well.

It was very easy, as an audience member, to create in my mind the familiar visuals of a Victorian Christmas and the spirit visitors of the novella using Zachariah’s voice as the background.

It was a passionate production which I really enjoyed. He’ll be at PenangPAC for three more shows with the last one being on Sunday at 3PM.  Unfortunately, it was a small audience last night, so if you are in town, please go lend your support to a talented individual.

(PS: His performance didn’t really help me with my book reading ideas because he was just too good. I think I’ll have to settle for oral interpretation instead of theatrics.)