Although Charles Dickens himself could never write a successful stage work – not for want of trying! – his lush, looping, atmospheric style of story-telling lends itself to crafty theatrical adaptation.

And “crafty” certainly is one of the words appropriate to describe Sean Murray’s production of “A Christmas Carol,” which has officially begun the stewardship of Murray’s Cygnet Theatre over what now will be called the Old Town Theatre.

(Apparent changes are few in the 248-seat playhouse opened in 1979 on the grounds of the Old Town State Park. The rest rooms are palatial. There are flimsy railings at intervals in the aisles. The non-wood interior walls are painted a bright grey, setting up light bounces to bedevil designers. Otherwise, it all looks about the same.)

Apparently, Murray wants to take over the tradition of annual “Christmas Carol” shows abandoned by the San Diego Repertory Theatre, something of a surprise for a company as enterprising as Cygnet. But a nice seasonal franchise makes sense for any theatre company and “ACC” has definitely worked elsewhere and before. So, onward.

But traditional and seasonal doesn’t necessarily mean inferior art. Indeed, this is one of Cygnet’s most complete packages so far, a nice use of all the extra space and a sensitive, intensely theatrical treatment which makes all the sentimentality shine.

One of Murray’s slight flaws is his tendency to overbook himself. A theatrical polymorph who flies between actor, producer, director, designer and re-writer, he brings to mind Bottom in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: “Oh, let me play the lion too!”

On this occasion, he’s limited himself to direction – the key to the show’s success – and adaptation, the source of the most problems.

As often happens with condensers of great books, Murray tends to fall in love with whole chunks of Dickens’ fancy while neglecting some useful hooks. Thus, Scrooge’s formative childhood and youth is whisked past quickly while the vivid descriptions of poverty vs. Christmas Spirit are lingered over. And Jacob Marley gets such short shift that the story seems to jerk into the ghost scenes without sufficient transition. We never even hear the line, “Marley was dead!”

If the words are distributed with lumps, though, the flow of the theatricality is like poured syrup. Each ghost – Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future – is done with imagination made more vivid by taste and restraint. Amada Cooley-Davis is stark and solemn as Past, Manny Fernandes is urgent and sensual as Present and Future is represented by a spectacular shadowy figure, massive but precisely proportioned and awe-inspiring.

The Cratchit family is unusually appealing, with Tiny Tim (Max Oilman-Williams) tastefully controlled; the Fezziwig bash is invigorating but too brief; and Nephew Fred’s household is more defined that usual.

A lot of credit for all this goes to the decor. Sean Fanning’s vast Victorian set grandly contains everything from intimate pillow talk to crashing seas, help immensely by Tom Christ’s simple but powerful animated projections and the exquisite lighting design of Matthew Novotny.

Much credit for authenticity is owed to Shirley Pearson, whose Christmas Past costumes are bang-on historically and Peter Herman, whose wigs are perhaps even more so. George Ye’s subtle sound design – sometimes just sub-sonic rumble – is plugged into the mainstream of the show’s sensibilities and his music selection is wise.

Fourteen actors play many roles with few slips. The only constant is Scrooge. The genial Jim Chovick overcomes some against-type casting and presents a Scrooge so plausible that one soon forgets the traditional image of lean and scowling.

All elements of this production fit together with an ease and assurance that is becoming a trademark for Murray. It will be interesting to see what level of work he establishes in this new home.

DOWNLOAD PROGRAM HERE