“Bah Humbug!” Review
by Rose Di Grazia
--Rave Reviews, December 2004

This past Christmas God blessed us one and all, with Damian Gillen’s presence on stage in “Bah Humbug” at the Dougherty Arts Center.  Damian gave a superb
performance during his one-man show.  Gillen’s acting was stupendous as he portrayed all the characters in the ever-popular “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens.  Scrooge has always been the one video I have to rent every Christmas, or the holiday wouldn’t be complete. 

The play opened with beautiful Celtic music.  The actor appeared on stage dressed in black with a matching top hat and book in hand. The play began with the reading of the Christmas Carol. Gillen does a terrific job of changing costumes, and personalities in the blink of an eye. The performance began with fantastic sound effects beginning with the doorknocker.  I was amazed at how the actor could transform himself into different characters in a split second. One minute the actor was Scrooge and the next minute he had become the ghost of Xmas past by holding a green light under his face.  I’m an adult, and I was on the edge of my seat.  It was as if Gillen was actually possessed by these characters.  The actor is not only a great actor, but also a phenomenal storyteller.  I imagined he must have watched Scrooge a million times growing up to be that good.  Throughout the play we are given a glimpse into Scrooge’s childhood. The audience roared with laughter when he transformed himself into Scrooge’s sister.  In this part of the performance he had held a dress up to himself like a human paper doll.  In the wink of an eye
he had changed costumes like Santa appearing and disappearing in the Night Before Christmas.

During the intermission I overheard people saying how very talented he was, and I must agree.  He was dramatic, funny, and scary.  He was absolutely
hilarious as Mrs. Cratchit.  All I can say is that this actor has an extraordinary imagination.  He transformed himself into other characters by using hats, shawls, aprons and a coat rack.  “Bah Humbug” is sure to delight audiences the world over.