Paul LaNave and Kate Beahen Photo by Alex Clark

A Christmas Carol...More or Less, written by husband and wife Stefano Loverso and Mary Irey, is in a subset of the sub-genre, where the complex totality of A Christmas Carol is performed by a woefully insufficient number of actors. In Scrooge in Rouge, currently at Open Eye Theatre for its third successive holiday run, the entire story is staged by a cast of three, with the added fun of a bawdy English musical hall setting. A Christmas Carol...More or Less does that one better by playing the entire tale with two actors. The added novelty here is that the two performers are a husband and wife forced into taking on this challenge while their marriage is on the brink of ruin.

Charlie (Paul LaNave) and Sarah (Kate Beahen) have been running a small theatre company in a remote mountain community. Sarah, the director, is committed to making a go of it, but Charlie, a writer, is fed up with scraping by on the meager income it provides them and their four-year-old son. Charlie is about to fly off to Los Angeles where he has work as a writer for a TV series, though when the name of the series is revealed, it hardly seems like a plum gig. Still, he is confident there will be other opportunities and the chance to make the connections needed to get his own plays produced. It is clear that his leaving is not a couple deciding on a long-distance marriage in order to advance both of their careers, but a tipping point that threatens to end their relationship.

Then a blizzard causes Charlie's flight to be cancelled. Worse than that, for Sarah, the entire cast and crew were on a skiing excursion and are now stranded, unable to get back for the sold-out show. Sarah can't afford to cancel and return the audience's money. How to honor the old mantra "The show must go on"? She convinces (blackmails might be more apt) Charlie to perform in the play, which he knows practically by heart, with her. He will be Scrooge and she will be everyone else–and also take care of the sound and light cues and set changes.

The result is a delightful affair as the two pull off the impossible, with Sarah racing about to switch off hats, wigs, aprons, coats, and whatever else is needed to take on a multitude of roles, while Charlie changes off in the scenes where Scrooge travels with the Ghost of Christmas Past and must play both the younger Scrooge and the older Scrooge, observing his past. Being that they are working from what is meant to be happening in each scene, a familiarity with A Christmas Carol is probably a prerequisite for getting the most out of the play. Fortunately, most theatregoers will have met this requirement.

The result feels like a series of comedy sketches, barreling one after the other as the story of Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation from miser to benefactor plays out. This isn't terribly surprising, given that the playwrights cut their teeth as writers for "Saturday Night Live." Some of the sketches, or scenes, are funnier than others, but all of them are entertaining. The cleverness with which up to eight characters are on stage at once, played by only two actors, is quite amazing.

The best of these had the audience roaring with laughter. Among my favorites is a scene early on when two charity solicitors are seeking Christmas donations for the needy. Sarah wears one top hat and holds another in her hand to represent the second solicitor, swapping them back and forth as each speaks. The two hats relate to one another as if human beings were beneath both of them. Another highlight is the Christmas dance at Old Fezziwig's, where Scrooge worked as a youth. It is quite a remarkable thing for two actors to create the illusion of an overheated warehouse packed with exuberant celebrants. Then there is the Cratchit family Christmas dinner, with the Cratchit children represented by garments on coat hangers.

In the process of putting on the play, Charlie begins to see some of himself in Ebenezer Scrooge, with his plan to fly off to the coast to seek wealth. He sees his impending separation from his son in parallel to the Cratchit's separation from the sweet boy called Tiny Tim. What the play loses in terms of total faithfulness to A Christmas Carol–the "Less" in the title–it gains in depicting a couple overcoming a marital crisis, which is the "More" in the title.

The fast-paced change of character, handling of props and costume elements, and running off stage to switch the lights or turn on a sound cue fall heavily on Beahen, and she handles it all majestically, manipulating her wide range of characters as if she were three or four people, not one. LaNave is excellent as well, initially smug, even hostile, as Charlie is about to fly the coop. Gradually, he recognizes his faults and seeks ways to change the outcome, just as Scrooge does on that fateful Christmas Eve. Beahen and LaNave have good chemistry together, whether sparring or melting into each other's arms.

Director Markell Kiefer has her hands full keeping this twosome on track, synchronized with numerous sound and light cues, costume switches, and set changes, making it all look seamless. She keeps the tone playful throughout, even when the elements addressing Sarah and Charlie's marriage are in view.

K. Mielke has created ingenious costumes in light of the fact that aside from Charlie and Sarah’s opening scene street clothes, the costumes take the form of minimal suggestions of a costume, yet each is enough to establish a character. Erica Zaffarano’s set works well to efficiently allow set pieces to be switched on and off stage. Sarah Bradner's lighting design and Matthew Villach's sound design contribute greatly to creating the essence of each scene.

I>A Christmas Carol...More or Less has been circulating around the country at regional theatre companies and colleges for over two decades, but as far as my search could reveal, this is its first staging in the Twin Cities. For anyone seeking a seasonal entertainment that draws on traditional holiday fare with a new slant, in an expert staging featuring two terrific actors, this Yellow Tree Theatre production may be just the thing.

A Christmas Carol...More or Less runs through December 28, 2025, at Yellow Tree Theatre, 320 5th Ave SE, Osseo MN. For tickets and information, please call 763-493-8733 or visit YellowTreeTheatre.com.

Playwrights: Stefano Loverso & Mary Irey; Director: Markell Kiefer; Set Design: Erica Zaffarano; Costume Designer: K. Mielke; Lighting Design: Sarah Bradner; Sound Design: Mathew Vichlach; Props Designer: Jacey Stewart; Norm Tiedermann; Technical Director: Dylan Gourley; Stage Manager: Constance Brevell; Assistant Stage Manager: Ninchai Nok-Chinclana; Production Manager: Kim Lartz.

Cast: Kate Beahen (Sarah), Paul LaNave (Charlie), Nora Targonski-O'Brien (Sarah understudy), Tucker Stone (Charlie understudy).