Jessica Denney & Earl Strupp in "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol"After attending the New Ground Theatre's production of Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, I wasn't much surprised to learn that Tom Mula's play has been broadcast on NPR numerous times now; a dramatization of Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol story through Marley's point-of-view, the show, with its blend of performance and frequent narration, seems tailor-made for radio. What I can't understand, though - at least based on New Ground's presentation - is what makes it a good fit for the stage.

In the course of 20 minutes, more than 150 audience members met a principal with a fetish for riding crops and black leather, a "chalk-dust"-using English teacher, and a Latin instructor with bad hygiene. Then the secretary was murdered and dinner was casually served.

What a weekend it was for battles in the Quad Cities. Professional golfers matched strokes at the John Deere Classic. WCW wrestlers brawled at The MARK. But a battle of wits - a wrestling match of a subtler kind - was found at Rock Island's Lincoln Park on Saturday night in the Genesius Guild production of Shakespeare's Richard III.

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