"Inspecting Carol" is the "Noises Off" of Christmas plays -- with some political awareness thrown in for good measure.
The hit British farce "Noises Off" is about a production in which everything that can go wrong does. In "Inspecting Carol," a professional theater company called the Soapbox Playhouse gets in deeper and deeper trouble as it attempts to mount its annual production of "A Christmas Carol."
The leading man is determined to rewrite the script to fit his own knee-jerk liberal agenda; Tiny Tim has grown so big, his size threatens to break Bob Cratchit's already weak back; and the actor playing the three ghosts can't learn his lines.
And that's the least of it. Soapbox is broke. Its only hope is the renewal of its grant from the National Endowment for the Arts -- that's where the political angle comes in. The NEA has questioned the company's productions and is sending an inspector to make a final decision based on "A Christmas Carol."
"Inspecting Carol" was written in 1991 by Daniel Sullivan, artistic director of the Seattle Repertory Theatre, in conjunction with his resident acting company. AXIS Theatre's artistic director, Brian Klaas, was Sullivan's assistant at the time, which explains why Baltimore theater-goers are seeing it.
It's also the type of play actors adore since it's about what they do for a living. But that doesn't mean it's easy to produce. Orchestrating intentional chaos is one of the more difficult feats to achieve, and stage manager Roz Byus probably deserves almost as much credit for making things go smoothly as director Klaas does.
Pretending to act badly can be an equally tough challenge since it's only convincing if the audience believes it's an act. At AXIS, the actor who pulls this off most effectively is Jack Manion as a talentless aspiring thespian to whom the company kowtows in the belief that he's an NEA spy.
Marty Miklusek's portrayal of the company's leading man is less successful since he mugs for the audience even when he's supposed to be doing his best. But Jennifer Brown is right on target as the company's overly emotional artistic director, as is Mary Alice Feather as a British-born actress trying to fit in with her Soapbox cohorts by performing Dickens with an American accent. John Potocko, Mary Anne Perry and Kimberley Lynne are also noteworthy.
The performance the government inspector finally sees is highly amusing -- in no small measure because the joke turns out to be on the NEA. But what was funny about this agency a few years ago is less so today.
In this new political climate, it could easily be the government that assumes the role of Scrooge. One can only hope that, like Dickens' character, it experiences a re-awakening and realizes how deficient our lives would be without support for arts.
'INSPECTING CAROL'
Where: AXIS Theatre, 3600 Clipper Mill Road
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. (No performance tomorrow.) Through Dec. 18
Tickets: $11 and $13
Call: (410) 243-5237