B Street Theatre’s production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ shines with audience participation, candy and unadulterated joy

By Dave Kempa | Solving Sacramento Mirth! Joy! Candy!The moment audience members shuffle into the theater for B Street Theatre’s winking take on “A Christmas Carol,” they find themselves as players themselves in the production.Two actors meander about with instruments — a guitar and a tambourine — and engage in revelry with theatergoers. There is an air of ease, the joy of the holiday, the expectation that all are about to share in something good, perhaps great, in that warm, resonant room.Written by comedian/actor Sam Kebede and performed with brilliant, sometimes improvised ease by just three actors, this tongue-in-cheek take on the classic Dickensian Christmas tale delivers in just about every manner.Peter Story plays the infamous original grinch Ebenezer Scrooge with aplomb, capturing his character arc and ultimate transformation (spoiler!) with skill. We reel in disgust at his comments on immigrants and the poor early on, are forced into empathy and compassion as we learn how he came to be the man he is today, and share in earnest the joie de vivre he finally comes to know.But it is “Actor 1” and “Actor 2” —& played by Rob Karma Robinson and Hunter Hoffman —& who positively steal the show...