The Foodbank Players ushered in the holiday season with their 2025 production of A Christmas Carol, staged at the First Congregational Church at 1912 Central Avenue. Every performance is free, with donations to support Alameda Food Bank gratefully accepted. Last year’s shows raised thousands of dollars to help keep Alameda residents fed.
True to form, the company blended fun community theater with a great cause. This year’s production featured a mix of longtime collaborators and first-time cast members, all bringing fresh energy to Charles Dickens’ enduring ghost story that was first published in 1843.
While founder Gene Kahane often directs Foodbank Players productions, this year he stepped into the role of Scrooge while Martie Muldoon took charge of direction. Before the show began, Muldoon thanked First Congregational Church for offering its space free of charge for this fundraising production.
After a carol was sung by the cast, the famous opening line, “Marley was dead, to begin with,” set the stage for the seasonal ghost story. Scrooge is haunted by his former business partner Marley (played by Fran Kahane), who reveals that Scrooge will be visited by three more ghosts, each of whom will reveal something that may save him from a terrible fate after death.
Through the ghosts’ interventions, Scrooge revisits his youth and sees his former employer, Fezziwig (Don Martin), elegantly dressed in a velvet coat and reminding him of generosity he once knew. Scrooge also revisits heartbreak when watching his young love Belle end her relationship with neglectful young Scrooge, as played by a real-life couple (Katie and Zachary Simon).
Scrooge then watches present celebrations from which he has excluded himself. Finally, he witnesses a bleak possible future, led by the silent and detached Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Mike Telang). The scenes with the Cratchit family, including the resilience of young Tiny Tim (Josephine Stewart), prove especially moving. By the end, Scrooge commits to dramatic changes and vows to treat every day like Christmas. This plot, full of both heart-wrenching and humorous moments, is perfect for the holiday season and is especially wonderful for reminding us all of a shared duty to support one another.
Muldoon’s enthusiastic direction of the play was largely inspired by The Muppet Christmas Carol movie and that came through clearly. Scrooge’s tense, forceful “bah humbugs” contrast the lighthearted comedic moments offered by his cheerful nephew Fred (seasoned Shakespearean Luis Araquistain) and the exuberant Ghost of Christmas Present (Stephanie Ann Foster). The Muppet inspiration also shone through the puppet used to represent the Ghost of Christmas Past–a nightmare-inducing doll spookily wielded by Jennifer Morrill.
As usual, the Players relied on simple staging and expressive acting rather than elaborate sets. The aisles and small stage were used to their fullest, with actors weaving between seats, humming eerily, and carrying gravestones to evoke a haunted cemetery. Music played a central role as well. The cast sang carols, including “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” and “Deck the Halls,” and the children’s ensembles were especially charming. The Cratchit family’s repeated renditions of “Silent Night” were particularly moving, especially due to the emotion conveyed by Mrs. Cratchit (Larissa Kasian).
Dickens’s tale of transformation through empathy aligns well with the Foodbank Players’ commitment to mutual aid and the church’s community-centered mission. As Martie Muldoon writes in her director’s note: “This classic story seems especially meaningful in this season of our nation’s history. Is accumulating wealth really the symbol of success? Or can we measure our success in community, family, friends, and the simple joy of being alive?”
Upcoming performances of A Christmas Carol take place on December 19 and 20 at 7 p.m., as well as an afternoon performance on December 21 at 4 p.m.
Vivian Delchamps Wolf (English PhD, UCLA, 2022) is a professor of English at Dominican University of California and a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. She is also a disability justice advocate, ballroom dancer, cat lover, and board game enthusiast. Contact her via [email protected] Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Vivan-Delchamps-Wolf.
