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Nutz-n-Boltz stages 'A Christmas Carol' in Boring

By Garth Guibord

The Sandy Post, Nov 29, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Garth Guibord / The Sandy Post

Scrooge (Jeff Puukka) has an encouter with his dead partner, Jacob Marley (Griffin ollar), in a scene from Nutz-n-Boltz's "A Christmas Carol."

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Charles Dickens wrote his famous short story “A Christmas Carol” more than 160 years ago, but the meaning behind the story has helped it stand the test of time.

This weekend only, area children will bring that message to their community through a special production of the Nutz-n-Boltz Theater Company.

The popular yuletide tale follows the cantankerous, rich miser Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve in an effort to change his cold, hard heart.

“The kids definitely understand this message and that it applies to all types of people they run into,” said the show’s director, Kelly Lazenby. “They understand that there are modern-day Scrooges.”

Scrooge is the only character played by an adult in the production.

“I thought it would be an interesting allegory,” said Lazenby. “Scrooge is the one grownup in the story, so children are representing the joy and youth and happiness that are all around him; that makes him even grumpier.”

Lazenby cast Jeff Puukka, 25, who used to run a children’s theater company and is now artistic director of the Discovery Theater Lab in Gresham, to take on the classic character. This is the first time Puukka has worked with Nutz-n-Boltz, and he’s found that the kids in the show are up for the challenge of Dickens.

“Some of them really do have a lot of intensity and energy,” said Puukka. “In that sense, it’s just like acting with another adult. I didn’t expect that.”

The cast has a total of 26 children of all ages, the largest cast for a children’s production at the theater. Despite the size of the cast, the kids are all taking the show seriously and doing their best to make it a success.

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