Narrator: Once there was
mean and miserly old man. His name
was Ebenezer Scrooge (Boo!). Oh... what a miserable old skinflint he
was! –
When his nephew called to invite him to spend Christmas with him and his
wife,
all he could say was:
Scrooge... Bah! Humbug! (Boo!)
Narrator: When two visitors called, asking Scrooge to donate a little
money to
help the poor over Christmas, he said..
Scrooge... Bah! Humbug! (Boo!)
Narrator: He had a clerk named Bob Cratchit, who had lots of children.
One of
them was called, Tiny Tim. He was crippled and very poorly (Ahhh!).
Scrooge was
locking up the office on Christmas Eve and he, very begrudgingly told
Cratchit
that he could have the whole of Christmas Day off – but he must be
in all the
earlier the next morning! (Boo!)
Scrooge went home to his bleak apartment and was getting ready for bed
when he
heard a clanking and clattering (clanking & clattering noise) coming
up the
stairs – then emerging through the bedroom door – came the
ghost of his long
dead partner, Jacob Marley! (Oooer!). Long chains were wrapped around
Marley’s
body and were dragging on the floor behind him.
Marley: Ebenezer, I come to warn you! If you don’t mend your ways
and become a
kinder man, You will end up like me! Forced to wander the world for all
eternity, carrying the heavy burden of guilt, forged link by link
throughout my
life! Take heed of what you see and mend your ways!
Narrator: Scrooge shivered with fear and listened as his dead partner
told him
that he would be visited by three spirits – The Ghost of Christmas
Past, The
Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas yet to Come.
Marley then
picked up his chains and walked backwards towards the window. He then
floated
out into the night sky – moaning and crying in agony! (Marley
exits backwards,
moaning and crying etc!)
Narrator: Scrooge was terrified! And then he began to think that maybe
he had
imagined it all and went to bed. (Clock chimes) Suddenly, he was
awakened by
the chiming of his clock. It was midnight and he sat up in bed as a
spectre
appeared in front of him.(Ghost appears) The ghost pointed a finger
towards him
and beckoned him to come from his bed.
Scrooge: (Frightened) Who – who are you?
Ghost: I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Scrooge: Long past?
Ghost: Your past!
Narrator: He took Scrooge’s arm and led him to the window. He
pointed out –
Scrooge could see a school-room, deserted except for one solitary child.
It was
Scrooge himself as a boy – not allowed home for the Holiday like
the others –
his father didn’t want him! (Ahhh!).
Ghost: Let us see another Christmas.
Narrator: The scene was the same school-room – only dirtier and
grimier – the
same solitary boy was still there – older and just as sad. The
door burst open
and in came a girl (enter Fan)
Scrooge: It’s Fan! My sister!
Fan: Ebenezer! I’ve come to take you home! Father has changed.
– he is much
kinder now – come, the carriage is outside waiting for you!
Ghost: Always a delicate creature. But she had a large heart.
Scrooge: So she had. So she had.
Ghost: She died a young woman and had, I think, children.
Scrooge: One child.
Ghost: True – your nephew!
Scrooge: (feeling guilty) Yes.
Narrator: The ghost took Scrooge through his early life as an
apprenticed clerk
for old Fezziwig, who treated him well – into manhood, when he
began to value
money and gain – more than friendships. Scrooge for the first time
saw himself
as his past had made him. He didn’t like what he saw.
(Exit ghost)
Suddenly he was back in his bed, awaiting the next spirit – The
Ghost of
Christmas Present - He didn't have to wait long.
(Enter 2nd. ghost)
This spirit showed him things as they were now. He took him to Bob
Cratchit’s
house. Mrs. Cratchit was preparing Christmas dinner. Even with the
meagre
pittance that Scrooge paid his clerk, they managed to fill a table with
potatoes and vegetables – and a goose! Bob entered, with Tiny Tim
perched on
his shoulder (enter Cratchit and Tiny Tim).
Bob: A Merry Christmas to us all my dears!
Tiny Tim: God Bless us every one!
Narrator: Said Tiny Tim – Scrooge turned to the ghost:
Scrooge: Tell me Spirit – will Tiny Tim live?
Ghost: I see a vacant seat in the chimney corner, and a crutch without
an
owner. If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will
die!
(Ghost exits)
Narrator: The clock struck again and the third spirit entered (enter
third
spirit), The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge was more fearful of
this
ghost than the others – with every reason!
It took him to a group of women who were arguing over a deceased
person’s
belongings. Another group, this time of business men who were discussing
the
death of someone they knew. There was no sympathy in the discussion,
just a
simple exchange of news and speculation that there were unlikely to be
any
mourners at the funeral!
Scrooge was then shown a corner of a derelict, overgrown cemetery. There
was a
neglected gravestone and the name inscribed in cold letters was –
Ebenezer
Scrooge!
Scrooge: Oh Spirit, hear me. I am not the man I was – I will not
be the man I
used to be. Why Show me this if I am past all hope?
Narrator: The ghost dissolved (exit ghost) and Scrooge was once again
sat in
his bed! It was the morning. He pinched himself –then jumped out
of bed,
laughing and dancing around.
Scrooge: I’m alive! I’m alive! I must make amends.
Narrator: And so he did! He doubled Bob Cratchit’s salary and made
sure that
Tiny Tim did not die. He became a real uncle and friend to his
nephew.
It was later said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any
man
alive possessed the knowledge.
May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim
observed:
All: God Bless Us, Every One!
