ISU Theatre is bringing the holiday spirit to Ames with their short film “Our Community Carol: A Blueprint for a Play.” 

The hour-long film is a modern adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic story, “A Christmas Carol.” The project delves into themes of community and hopes to tell the story of a student named Tiny and three theatre ghosts who bring the Ames community together. 

Tiffany Antone, assistant teaching professor of music and theatre and the director of the film, came up with the idea before the pandemic. But after COVID-19 safety efforts led to performance closures, she pivoted and adapted to the changes by creating a short film instead of a live play.

Antone, alongside 50 students and faculty, have worked hard for the past 14 weeks to produce the project. 

“Everyone has risen to the challenge,” Antone said. “I am incredibly proud of everyone who worked on this. I hope when it is cut together that people can see all the love that has gone into it. We thought a lot about our audience as we labored on this project, and we imagined this film landing in their homes like a warm, crackling, digital fire.” 

By using green screen backdrops, digitized sets and post-production editing to their advantage, the team was able to limit the number of actors on stage per scene and design clear sets for people to see clearly. 

Those interested in watching the film will be able to stream it from Dec. 11-30. Tickets for each showing are available here and the show program can be found here. Admission to watch the film is “pay what you will.” 

More information about the film can be found on the ISU Theatre “Our Community Carol: A Blueprint for a Play” show production page.