Evergreens and More / A Noise Within : More Ghosts Than You Can Ever Rattle

Have yourself a scary little Christmas. Or maybe just a wary one.

Sabin Epstein’s adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” for A Noise Within emphasizes the ghosts in the Dickens classic. Especially at the beginning, when the fog rolls out and specters rustle through the darkness, it’s as if you’re watching a Halloween show.

These ghosts don’t make you gasp. They’re likelier to make you sigh. The production has a world-weary quality. Fortunately it’s energized by the sharply defined features of Joel Swetow as Scrooge. He measures the melting of the miser’s misanthropic heart with absolute precision.

Seen at Lancaster Performing Arts Center last Saturday, arriving this week at the Alex Theatre in Glendale and slated for Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center Dec. 20-22, this version provides ghosts beyond the three famous ones (Past, Present and Future). Other spirits take turns acting out Scrooge’s visions and looking down on them from above, often commenting on the action in song.

This “Carol” is musical but not a musical. Much of Laura Karpman’s score is in the form of recitative. Lyrics often repeat lines just spoken by the narrator or other characters. The score is at first very mournful, quoting liberally from the old plainsong melody of the “Dies Irae.” Later, more joyous strains aren’t as convincing.

The look of the show is also severe. The palette is primarily black and white. Bare scaffolding makes up most of Thomas Buderwitz’s set. James Taylor’s lighting design focuses more on shadow than on light, though there is one scene in which a streak of green light crosses the stage. (The staging and set will remain the same at each venue.)

Alex Jaeger’s costumes add to the gloom. The narrator (Geoff Elliott) first appears in a long robe, looking like a monk, then switches to an outfit only marginally brighter. The wandering ghosts who make up the chorus eventually don off-white outfits, but they look as if they’re spattered with dried blood. The ghost of the future is nothing but a big, black quivering curtain.

A few colorful punctuation marks appear. Mitchell Edmonds’ Ghost of Christmas Present wears enough produce to serve as a cold-weather Carmen Miranda. Donald Sage Mackay’s friendly Fezziwig has a red mop top wig.

Epstein’s script takes us through the process of redemption, and Swetow helps us share Scrooge’s excitement. But the look of the stage isn’t transformed as much as Scrooge’s soul is, so the lingering impression remains fairly grim and occasionally self-important.

* “A Christmas Carol,” Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, tonight-Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. (818) 546-1924. $24-$28. Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Dec. 20 and 21, 8 p.m.; Dec. 21 and 22, 2 p.m. (310) 937-6606. $10-$20. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.