A Christmas Carol

N1: It’s Christmas Eve in London, England, 1843.

N2: Ebenezer Scrooge sits at his desk counting money.

Ebeneezer Scrooge: Forty, forty-one, forty-two . . . 

N1: A freezing wind sweeps through the office.

N2: Scrooge’s clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers.

Bob Cratchit: Mr. Scrooge, sir, may I add coal to the fire?

Scrooge: No! Coal costs money.

N1: Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, arrives full of cheer.

Fred: Merry Christmas, Uncle!

Scrooge: Bah! Humbug! What good has Christmas ever done for you?

Fred: Many things do us good without making us rich. Christmas is a time for kindness and charity.

Scrooge: Humbug!

Fred: Merry Christmas, Mr. Cratchit!

Cratchit: Merry Christmas!

Scrooge (to himself): What does Cratchit have to be merry about? He can barely feed his family, and his child is sick.

N2: Scrooge and Cratchit prepare to leave for the night.

Scrooge: I suppose you’ll want Christmas Day off.

Cratchit: Please, sir.

Scrooge: It’s not fair that I have to pay you for not working.

Cratchit: It’s Christmas, sir.

Scrooge: Fine. But be here early the next morning!

N1: That evening, Scrooge sits alone by his fireplace.

N2: He hears a loud clanking noise and heavy footsteps.

Ghost Chorus: Owooooh!

Scrooge: What is that?

N1: A door flies open. A ghost with death-cold eyes enters.

N2: A long, heavy chain is wrapped around its body. Scrooge recognizes the ghost.

Scrooge: My old business partner, Jacob Marley!  But . . . you’re dead!

Jacob Marley: Indeed I am.

N1: Marley points to the chain.

Marley: Each link in this chain is punishment for a good deed I failed to do.

Scrooge: But you were such a good businessman!

Marley: My business should have been the happiness of others. Now I drag this weight around with me forever. Change your ways, or your chain will be longer and heavier than mine.

Scrooge: What can I do?

Marley: You will be haunted by three spirits. They are your only chance to escape my fate. 

Ghost Chorus: Owooooh!

Marley: Expect the first when the clock strikes one.

N2: At 1 a.m., the first ghost appears.

Ghost Chorus: Owooooh!

N1: The gentle spirit has long white hair and a white gown.

Ghost 1: I am the Ghost of Christmas Past. I will show you your life as it used to be.

N2: Scrooge and the ghost pass magically into Scrooge’s past.

N1: They are standing in an old warehouse full of people.

Ghost 1: Don’t worry. They can’t see us. Do you remember this place?

Scrooge: I held my first job here. There’s old Mr. Fezziwig. 

N2: A cheerful man calls out.

Mr. Fezziwig: It’s Christmas Eve! No more work. Let’s celebrate!

N1: There is food and music.

N2: Everyone dances joyfully, including a young Scrooge.

Ghost 1: Some would say this is a waste of money . . . 

Scrooge: A waste? Look how little it cost Fezziwig to make everyone so happy.

Ghost 1: Your smile is wide. Who are you dancing with?

Scrooge: It’s Belle.

Ghost 1: You loved her, but you didn’t marry her.

Scrooge: We were both very poor. I wanted to become rich.

Ghost 1: Ah, you chose wealth instead of love.

Scrooge: You torture me!

N1: The spirit disappears. Scrooge is suddenly back in his room, alone.

N2: The clock strikes two.

Ghost Chorus: Owooooh!

N1: The second spirit is a jolly giant in a bright-green robe.

Ghost 2: I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. Come, see things as they are now.

N2: The ghost and Scrooge appear at the Cratchits’ house.

N1: Cratchit’s large family gathers around a small table.

N2: Cratchit’s son, Tiny Tim, hobbles in using a crutch. 

Tiny Tim: There never was such a grand Christmas goose!

Scrooge: So excited over a small goose!

Ghost 2: It is all they can afford. But they are happy.

Cratchit: A toast! To Mr. Scrooge, for our feast.

Tiny Tim: May god bless us, every one!

N1: Cratchit holds Tiny Tim’s withered hand.

Scrooge: Will Tiny Tim live? He looks so sickly.

Ghost 2: If things do not change, the child will soon die.

N2: The ghost vanishes. Scrooge is back in his bedroom.

N1: At 3 a.m., a ghost in a black cloak appears.

Scrooge: Are you the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?

N2: The ghost does not answer. It points a bony finger forward.

Scrooge: Ghost of the Future, I fear you most.

N1: The spirit takes Scrooge to a lonely, weedy cemetery. 

N2: A coffin is being lowered into a grave.

Scrooge: Whose funeral is this? Why is no one here?

N1: Two people pass by.

Passerby 1: Little good his money did him. Not a single person to mourn him!

Passerby 2: But he sure saved money on this cheap funeral!

N2: The ghost points toward the gravestone.

N1: Scrooge creeps toward the gravestone and reads aloud.

Scrooge: Ebenezer Scrooge.

N2: Scrooge falls to the ground.

Scrooge: No! From now on, I will be kind and generous. I will honor Christmas!