Julie Garner
reviews
A Commedia Christmas Carol (2012)
“A Commedia Christmas Carol” crackles and amuses with abandon...While we’re mentioning savory comic performances among a universally able cast, Julie Garner stands out, too...In one theatrical moment, Garner morphs before our eyes from the lovely young Clara, wife of Scrooge’s nephew, into Mrs. Cratchit....Garner chatters the whole time, shifting from one character into the next. It’s simple but sublime."
-The Washington Post, Jane Horwitz. December 5, 2012
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"Garner – one of Washington’s most tragically underutilized actors – and Mulford each take on six roles, with great separation of character; Garner has a particularly memorable onstage transformation from the impeccably upper-class Clara to the Cockney Mrs. Cratchit... [This show is a] fast, funny and honest playing of the time-honored story"
-DC Theatre Scene, TIm Treanor. December 1., 2012
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"Faction of Fools created something pretty special with this production – a traditional take on this Christmas classic, preserving the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of the play that keeps it in production year after year – yet one that is unlike any other production out there, alternatively moving and hilarious."
-DC MetroTheatreArts, Jessica Vaughan. Dec. 2, 2012
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"Another standout performance is that of Garner who, in addition to Belle and Clara, plays Young Fan and Mrs. Cratchit, the latter in mask, wearing the rumpled dress of an overworked and ever-worried housewife, and speaking in a voice that comes straight from London’s hard-scrabble streets. We would never believe that Mrs. Cratchit and Clara are played by the same actress if Garner didn’t transition from the former to the latter right before our eyes while performing a continuous monologue, her voice changing even as she removed her mask and pulled off the housewife’s dress to reveal an elegant Victorian beauty in a ball gown. She then segues from Clara back into Mrs. Cratchit later, and the mere transformation inspires appreciative applause from the audience."
-Shakespeareances, Erin Minton. Dec.23, 2012
2013 Helen Hayes Nominee for Charles McArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical