By Dave Kempa

Mirth! Joy! Candy!

The moment audience members shuffle into the theater for B Street Theatre’s winking take on “A Christmas Carol,” they find themselves as players themselves in the production.

Two actors meander about with instruments — a guitar and a tambourine — and engage in revelry with theatergoers. There is an air of ease, the joy of the holiday, the expectation that all are about to share in something good, perhaps great, in that warm, resonant room.

Written by comedian/actor Sam Kebede and performed with brilliant, sometimes improvised ease by just three actors, this tongue-in-cheek take on the classic Dickensian Christmas tale delivers in just about every manner.

Peter Story plays the infamous original grinch Ebenezer Scrooge with aplomb, capturing his character arc and ultimate transformation (spoiler!) with skill. We reel in disgust at his comments on immigrants and the poor early on, are forced into empathy and compassion as we learn how he came to be the man he is today, and share in earnest the joie de vivre he finally comes to know.

But it is “Actor 1” and “Actor 2” — played by Rob Karma Robinson and Hunter Hoffman — who positively steal the show as they transform themselves into a rainbow of supporting characters throughout Scrooge’s spiritual transformation. (I would like to extend my apologies to the rest of the audience for my irrepressible peals of laughter each time Scrooge’s butler, played by Hoffman, clutches at his heart and squeals in response to a jump scare.)

We all know the story, but please indulge a refresher: Ebenezer Scrooge is a crotchety old business owner in 1843 England who, despite finding himself lonesome after the death of his equally unscrupulous business partner Jacob Marley, mistreats the few people left in his life. This Christmas Eve we find him abusing his one employee and isolating himself from overtures of love from his nephew.

On his way home from work, Scrooge is accosted by a slew of musical charity workers — immigrant rights activists, Norwegian climate scientists(!), and the operators of the very orphanage he lived in as a child — whose appeals for money he parries away with curmudgeonly ditties of his own.

But that evening he is visited by Marley’s ghost, who tells him he must change his ways, to find kindness, generosity and love, or end up chained and tortured for eternity as Marley is. At the strike of midnight, three spirits — the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future — visit him in turns in an attempt to show him a path to redemption.

Kebede’s first two spirits are comics in their own right. Christmas Past (Robinson) is a quirky magician who dazzles with illusions and tricks as he shows Scrooge his past. Christmas Present (Hoffman) is a quirky delight, paying homage to various Matthew McConaughey characters as he waxes poetic on the “now,” man.

It is at this point that audience members are tapped to portray characters themselves, with one lucky theatergoer playing Scrooge himself (as Story is needed to play Ebenezer as a child in flashbacks). Another — in this evening’s production a quite older man, to much comedic effect — plays Tiny Tim.

These engagements between players and audience result in improvised moments of repartee that are sure to make each production unique from the last.

The effect is, simply, overflowing festive joy. Much is demanded of the actors to make it work each evening with a new crowd. Tonight, at least, they are bursting with charisma and goodwill, handing out candy canes (and even some presents) to the crowd, and sometimes breaking character in moments that surprise even themselves.

This does not seem to be a terribly expensive production. The stage is simple, the furniture and props are few (save for the massive chest filled with actual comedic stage props). What it needs to carry the day is an earnest care for both the audience and the human condition. In that, director Dave Pierini delivers several times over.

Seats for the many remaining shows through Dec. 29 are filling fast, dear reader, so don’t delay in jumping to B Street’s website while there’s time. If you find online ticket sales closed for the day you wish to experience the joy, call the box office to ask about available seating or to be added to the show’s waitlist. 

This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.