An Interview with Playwright Jim Helsinger

Artistic Director Jim Helsinger brings Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic to the stage like you’ve never seen it before! Through a unique framing device, a family retelling the beloved story to their youngest son, Helsinger preserves Dickens’ language, style, and wit. We sat down with Helsinger to learn more about the brilliant adaptation.

Orlando Shakes: Tell us a bit about your history with playwriting.

Jim Helsinger: I began doing adaptations with Dracula: the Journal of Jonathan Harker in 1995. It was the first non-Shakespeare scheduled by Orlando Shakes. It was performed at the Winter Park Arts Mall. My other adaptations include Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus, Robinson Crusoe, and A Christmas Carol. I am currently working on a new version of A Tale of Two Cities.

Orlando Shakes: What inspired you to write this new interpretation of the Christmas classic?

Jim: I love Dickens and A Christmas Carol. I wanted to write an adaptation for Orlando Shakes that retained the wonderful descriptive language of Dickens, not just the plot.

Orlando Shakes: If you could only describe your play using four words, what would they be?

Jim: Ghosts, redemption, forgiveness, change.

Orlando Shakes: What do you think will surprise people most about your interpretation of the story?

Jim: There may be scenes in it from A Christmas Carol that you have never seen.

Orlando Shakes: What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Jim: Snowsledding, which I don’t get much to do of in Orlando.

Orlando Shakes: If you were a Christmas cookie, what kind of cookie would you be?

Jim: Buckeye.

ABOUT JIM HELSINGER 
Jim Helsinger has directed many Orlando Shakes productions including The Mystery of Irma Vep – A Penny Dreadful, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Henry V, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, The Adventures of Pericles, and West Side Story. He has also directed for the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Florida Repertory Theater, Actors’ Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Cape May Stage, Prague Shakespeare Company, and Colorado Shakespeare Festival. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, National Theatre Conference, National New Play Network, and is a past president of the Shakespeare Theatre Association and recipient of the prestigious Sidney Berger Award for outstanding talent and dedication to the works of William Shakespeare. Helsinger also serves as a UCF faculty member.