Scrooge’s Office (1st scene/1st site) 

Narrator: Once upon a time, of all the good days in the year, on a cold, biting Christmas Eve, Ebeneezer Scrooge, a squeezing, grasping covetous, old man, sits busy in his accounting business. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, works on the accounting books as close to the stingy fire as he can without setting himself aflame. The business had once been not just Scrooge’s but Jacob Marley’s, too, seven years ago, before Marley died. 

Enter Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, blessed with laughter, good humor & love. Fred: Merry Christmas, Uncle! 

Scrooge: Christmas! Bah! Humbug! What reason do you have to be merry? You’re poor enough. 

Fred: Come, then, Uncle. What reason do you have to be miserable? You’re rich enough [light laughter]. 

Scrooge: Bah! Humbug! 

Fred: Don’t be angry, Uncle. Come dine with me and my wife for Christmas tomorrow. 

Scrooge: Wife! Why did you ever marry? 

Fred: Because I fell in love. 

Scrooge: [Growls] Love. Humbug! [pointing to exit]Good afternoon! Fred: Nay, Uncle. Till tomorrow.[going, to Bob] Merry Christmas![Exits] Scrooge: I suppose you’ll want all day tomorrow off? 

Cratchit: If convenient, sir. 

Scrooge: Convenient! A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket. It’s convenient for you that I pay you instead of you finding yourself in prison! There ARE still prisons? 

Cratchit: Plenty of prisons, sir. 

Scrooge: Good. And the poor still end up there—-or at the workhouse? Cratchit: Yes. Many would rather die than go there. 

Scrooge: Many better do it and decrease the surplus 

population.[grumbling] I suppose you must have off the whole Day? [Bob nods] Be here all the earlier the next morning. 

Cratchit: I promise, sir, I promise! [Exit Bob Cratchit.] Scrooge: Christmas, humbug! [Exit Scrooge]

2 

Scrooge’s Sitting Room (2nd scene/2nd site—middle fireplace room) 

At home, Scrooge checks the library and room. Nobody under the table or chairs; a small fire in the grate. All is as it should be. Scrooge: Darkness invades my thoughts at my home like ghosts. Humbug! 

Satisfied, he puts on his dressing-gown, slippers, nightcap, and sits before the fireplace. No sooner does he relax when a bell sounds.Dread overcomes him. Then dragging chains jangle the loudest. An apparition enters. 

Scrooge: A ghost! [crumbles] Humbug! What do you want? Who are you? Marley: In life I was your partner for seven years: Jacob Marley. Scrooge: Jacob! Jacob! Why are you chained? 

Marley: This chain [rattles it] I forged in life of my own free will. You labor on it, now. 

Scrooge [trembling]: Oh, Jacob. You were always a good man of business. 

Marley: Business? Mankind was my business! [holds up chain, wailing, flinging it upon ground, quaking] Hear me! You have a chance to escape my fate, Ebeneezer! I am here to warn you! 

Scrooge: A warning, thank you, Jacob! You were always a good friend. 

Marley: You will be visited by Three Spirits. Without these visits, you cannot change. Expect the first when the bell tolls twelve. 

Scrooge [voice faltering]: Can I take them all three at once and be done? 

Marley: Expect the second when the bell tolls one. Expect the third when the last bell tolls. They toll for you. For redemption. Remember me! 

Narrator? Marley winds up the chains, leaves, holding his arms in the air. Scrooge attempts to follow him, but each time Scrooge nears, Marley seems farther away. 

Scrooge [mumbling]: Humbug! [leaves, heading to Bishop’s room] 

Narrator: Whether from the day’s emotion, fatigue, or his conversation with Marley, Scrooge drags himself up to bed and instantly sleeps. 

_____________________________________________________________ Christmas Past Bedroom (3rd scene/3rd site—Bishop’s bedroom)

3 

Awakening, Scrooge thinks it over and over but can make nothing of Marley’s ghost’s visit. Terribly bothered, the more he thinks, the more perplexed he is. The more he tries not to think, the more he decides that it was all a dream. The bell strikes. 

Scrooge: It’s time! But the bell has come and nothing else! It must be a dream. 

Light flashes on. Beside his bed stands “an unearthly” visitor. Scrooge: Are you the Spirit whose coming was foretold to me? Spirit #1 [gentle, happy]: I am! I am the Ghost of Christmas Past. Scrooge [afraid, covering face]: Please, Spirit, put out the light. 

Spirit #1: Would you so soon with worldly hands put out the light I give? 

Scrooge [cowers]: I deny any intention to offend, Spirit. What business brings you here? 

Spirit #1: Your welfare! Rise! Walk with me! Take my hand![offers it] Scrooge [looking at self]: I am but mortal. 

Spirit #1 [reassuring: Come! To places you have seen! Hearts you have felt![Scrooge takes hand; they exit.] 

_______________________________________________________________ –Fezziwig’s Dance Party (4th scene/4th site) 

Narrator: Scrooge and the Spirit travel to Fezziwig’s warehouse. Workers are cleaning, making way for a party. It’s as warm and bright a ballroom as anyone wants on a winter’s night. 

Spirit #1: Scrooge, do you know this place? 

Scrooge: Know it? [gleeful] I worked here! Good ole Fezziwig! Bless his heart! Oh, there was nothing we wouldn’t have done for Fezziwig. Look! [pointing] That’s me! 

Fezziwig: Yo ho, Scrooge! Belle! Lads! Lassies! No more work tonight. It’s Christmas Eve! What, ho! Let’s celebrate! Let’s have dancing here! [Clapping] 

In comes the music maker and others with trays of foodstuff.

4 

Scrooge [jovial]: Oh, the food! [wild clapping] And the dancing! 

Dancing. Scrooge claps along. Fezziwig et al. dance various steps. Young Scrooge and Belle dance, hold hands, their heads together. {When the clock strikes, this ball breaks up. They line up.] 

Fezziwig & Mrs?[byes/hugs]: Merry Christmas to you all![Exit all] 

Scrooge: What fun! What fun! Well done! Well done! I remember it all! Is it over, Spirit? 

Spirit #1: A small matter to make these silly people so full of gratitude. 

Scrooge: Small? He has the power to make work light or burdensome, to make us happy or sad. At so slight a cost, it is 

impossible to add up: and yet . . . the happiness he gives is as great as if it cost a fortune, oh, I— 

Spirit #1: What is it? My time grows short. 

Scrooge [thinking]: I should like to be able to say a word or two to Bob Cratchit just now. 

[Focus on couple; costumes change] 

Young Scrooge and Belle (5th scene corner of same 4th site) 

Narrator: Years have passed. Scrooge has become greedy. He meets with Belle about their intended marriage. 

Belle: Where have you been, Ebeneezer? You haven’t visited in quite a while. 

Young Scrooge [restless, pacing]: I’ve been attending to my business. To more important matters. 

Belle: I matter little to you. I barely see you. [Gently crying] Another idol has replaced me, money. When we planned our marriage contract, you were another man. 

Young Scrooge [impatiently]: Then I was a boy. 

Belle: If you just met me now, Ebeneezer, having no dowry, would you try to win me? [Scrooge pauses] I think not. I release You. May you be happy in the life you have chosen! 

Exit separately

5 

Scrooge: What happened to her, Spirit? 

Spirit #1: A happy home with hearty happy children. A full life beyond belief. 

Scrooge: Why do you torture me? I cannot bear it! [They exit] 

Narrator: Scrooge is exhausted and overcome by drowsiness. He sinks into a heavy sleep as the Spirit of Christmas Past guides him to return to home (middle sitting room). 

__________________________________________________________________ Christmas Present (same as 2nd/6th scene & Porch 5th site) 

Scrooge, mid-snore, sits up in his chair to gather his thoughts. When the bell strikes and no shape appears, Scrooge is taken aback, trembling. Time passes, and then light streams from the “garden” area (7th scene). Scrooge decides to investigate. 

Spirit #2: Ebeneezer Scrooge! Come in! Look about! See the wonder of it all! I am the Ghost of Christmas Present! Look upon me. Know me better, man! You have never seen the likes of me before, have you? 

Scrooge [timid]: Never. Do you shine that light upon anyone in particular? 

Spirit #2: On the poor the most. Because they need our warmth the most. I have much to teach you. 

Scrooge: I have already learned one valuable lesson. Let me now profit from a second one. Take me where you will. 

Spirit #2: Touch my robe! [Scrooge does; Spirit shining light] [Exit to Fred’ house] NARRATION of TOWN OR SONG 

_____________________________________________________________ 

Nephew Fred’s House (7th scene/6th site) Room W/dinner settings? 

Narrator: The Spirit of Christmas Present and Scrooge arrive at nephew Fred’s home, blessed with love. Fred’s hearty laugh rings out, surprising Scrooge when he recognizes it. 

Fred: Hahahahaha! [Contagious laughter, holding sides,] Uncle Scrooge said Christmas was a humbug! What a word! 

Mrs. Fred [laughing]: Oh, my, my, my, how shameful of him, Fred! Fred: He is comical, truly. And his offenses carry their own punishment. I have nothing to say against him.

6 

Mrs. Fred: I can say he is very rich, or so, Fred, so you tell me. Fred: What of that, my dear? Wealth is of no use to him. He don’t do any good with it. He don’t even make himself comfortable. Mrs. Fred: Even if he is my mother’s brother, I have no patience with him, husband. 

Fred: Oh, I am sorry for him, I can’t be angry with him. Who suffers for it? Himself, always. AND he loses out by not joining us for dinner. 

Mrs. Fred: He loses a very good dinner. 

Fred: I will give him the same chance every year, to make merry with us, whether he likes it or not. 

Mrs. Fred: And if he ever finds it in his heart to give poor Bob Cratchit a little more, then that’s something. 

Fred: Truly something. 

Mrs. Fred: A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man! Narrator: Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas travel from this present scene. We fellow spectators follow upstairs to the present home of Bob Cratchit and his family. As the Spirit goes, it shines brightness all about even in the darkest night. 

__________________________________________________ 

Narrator: By this time it is very dark and snowing heavily as Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Present travel to Bob Cratchit’s home. 

Cratchits’ House (8th scene/7th site) 

Spirit #2 [smiling]: Bless Bob Cratchit’s poor, humble abode. [Shining his light all about it] 

Mrs. Cratchit [to older child]: Wherever is your father, the honorable Bob Cratchit? And your brother, Tiny Tim? 

Older Child: They went to church, Mother. Oh, here they come! Enter Bob Cratchit with meager supplies and Tiny Tim with his crutch. 

Mrs. Cratchit: There are my fine men. [Older child helps Tim to stoop with a quilt] [to Bob]: My husband, how is our Tiny Tim today? 

Bob Cratchit: A fine boy. At church he said he hopes people see him, a cripple, and remember who made lame beggars walk and blind men see. He gives me hope, my dear. I think he’s growing stronger. [looking around] And where are my other children?

7 

Children enter, each with a small bowl, circling parents. Older Child: Here they are, Father, here we all are! 

Mrs. Cratchit [“thinking”]: Children, did I promise you something? 

Children: [singing]: Oh, we want our Christmas pudding! Oh, we want our Christmas pudding! Oh, we want our Christmas pudding! And put it right here! [Mom spoons out pudding. Kids pretend eat] 

Older Child: And what do we say? 

Little Child [holding up bowl]: Please, mum, can I have some more? [All children laugh] 

Older Child: That’s not what we say. Are we not thankful? 

Children [singing]: We thank you for pudding, Christmas and for grace. We thank you for pudding, Christmas, and for grace— [interrupting] 

Bob Cratchit: And for Scrooge. 

Mrs. Cratchit: Scrooge?— 

Bob Cratchit: Scrooge. [All shrug. Scrooge becomes visibly touched.] 

Children: We thank you for pudding, Christmas, Scrooge and grace. We thank you for pudding, Christmas, Scrooge and grace. Amen. Amen, A-a-men! 

Older child: God bless us. 

Tiny Tim: God bless us, everyone. 

Scrooge [with much care]: Spirit, does Tiny Tim live? 

Spirit #2: I see an empty seat with a crutch. If these shadows remain unchanged, the child will die. 

Scrooge: No, no, say it isn’t so. 

Spirit #2: If he does die, he better do it quick and decrease the surplus population. Do you regret hearing your own words quoted back to you? 

Scrooge: Oh, no, Spirit, don’t use my own words upon me! A bell sounds. Spirit exits. 

Scrooge: Spirit? Spirit, where are you? Where have you gone? 

Scrooge exits/walks into the hallway. 

____________________________________________________________

8 

Hallway Scene (9th scene/8th site) 

A hooded Phantom comes like a mist towards him. 

Scrooge: Am I in the presence of Christmas-Yet-To-Come? 

The Spirit answers not but points onward with its hand. Scrooge: You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen, is that so, Spirit? 

The Spirit motions forward. Scrooge bends as if buckling over, holding his knees for support, as if barely able to go on. The Spirit pauses only seconds to give Scrooge time to recover and points again. 

Scrooge: Ghost of the Future! I fear you more than any specter I have seen. But I hope to live to be a better man than what I was, Lead on! The night is waning fast! 

They commence along “Street” Scene 

______________________________________________________________ The Cratchits—-by stained glass window-10th scene/9th site) Enter Bob Cratchit, slump-shouldered, distraught. Mrs.C meets him. 

Mrs. Cratchit: You’ve been there, then, Bob? 

Bob Cratchit: Yes, I promised him that I would walk there on Sunday. Oh, my little child! My little boy! [Breaks down. Mrs. holds him, both cry]. How patient and loving he was! 

Mrs. Cratchit: There, there, my love. [consoling] 

Bob Cratchit: Oh, and I saw Fred, Mr. Scrooge’s nephew, on the Street. I said I was sorry for his loss and he said how he was sorry for us as well, and he gave me his card and said to see him at his house. 

Mrs. Cratchit: What a good soul he is! 

Bob Cratchit:I am very happy that Tiny Tim is remembered.[Both exit] Scrooge: No, Spirit, no! 

Christmas Future leads Scrooge and Phantom away. 

Scrooge: Let me behold what I shall be in days to come! Where do we go? 

The finger undergoes no change, just points and leads Scrooge. ______________________________________________________________ 

“Fake” Street Scene–on balcony (11th scene/10th site) 

The Phantom leads him along the hall “street” as pickpockets pass.

9 

Pickpocket #1: Ha ha, I took this from the old man’s house. I got his burial clothes! 

Pickpocket #2: I took these! His bed chamber’s blankets! Who got his money? 

Pickpocket #1: Nobody—ever, ha ha! He’s dead, he’s dead! [They exit] Scrooge: Who is dead, Spirit? Is there any person who feels anything for this man? 

The Phantom spreads its dark robe before him and walks on. ________________________________________________________________ 

Churchyard (end of “Street” (on balcony?)(12 scene/11th site) The Spirit stands among the gravesites and points. 

Narrator: STREET NARRATION 

Scrooge: Are these the shadows of the things that will be, or of things that may be? 

The Phantom points down at the grave by which it stands. Scrooge: Men’s paths, if they depart from them, can change. Say it is thus? 

The Spirit is immovable, pointing. Scrooge creeps towards where he points, trembling. 

Scrooge: No! I am that dead unloved man? Oh, no, Spirit! Oh, no! Spirit! [clutching its robe] Hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be that man! 

Spirit’s hand appears to shake. Scrooge notices. 

Scrooge: Good Spirit [drops before it], I will honor Christmas in my heart and keep it all the year. I’ve learned my lessons. Oh, Spirit! 

Scrooge in his agony catches the Phantom’s hand and raises it up in prayer. 

Scrooge [with deep remorse & grief]: I beg of you, Spirit! Phantom leaves. Scene ends. Audience goes down/out carriage doors. __________________________________________________________________

10 

Turkey Boy Outside Carriage Doors (13th scene/12th site) 

Scrooge [throwing open doors]: Oh, glorious day! I don’t know how long I’ve been among the Spirits! I don’t even know what day it is! Haha! 

A boy is passing by. 

Scrooge: Boy, what day is today my fine fellow? 

Boy: What, sir? Why, it’s Christmas Day, sir. 

Scrooge [spinning boy about]: Christmas Day! I haven’t missed it. It all happened. It’s true, haha! Boy, is the big turkey still in the store window on the Market Street? 

Boy: The one as big as me? I should say so. 

Scrooge: An intelligent boy! A remarkable boy! Here. Go and buy it and take that turkey to Bob Cratchit’s house. 

Boy runs. Scrooge, offing his bed clothes, runs into the street. Scrooge[taking hands]: Merry Christmas!Merry Christmas to you all! 

Nephew Fred and his wife are passing Scrooge on the street. Scrooge: Merry Christmas, Fred! Merry Christmas, Caroline! I will be a better man! And I will come to your Christmas dinner. 

Fred: Wonderful, Uncle! Merry Christmas! 

Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim approach Scrooge. 

Bob Cratchit [with surprise]: Mr. Scrooge? What is going on? 

Scrooge: Oh, Merry Christmas, Bob! [hugs him] My good fellow! I promise to raise your salary and to help your family from Now on. [to Tiny Tim] And you, young fellow, will have the best of care and a long life. 

Bob Cratchit: God bless you, Mr. Scrooge! 

Tiny Tim and all actors: God bless us, every one! 

All sing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” Cast bowing