Scrooge
Minions surround Marley's coffin. The rest of the cast form a semicircle around them.
Minion 1: To begin with, Marley was dead.
Minion 2: There is no doubt that Marley was dead.
Minion 1: This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come from this
story.
Minion 2: Now, Scrooge was his sole administrator
Minion 1: his only friend and only mourner.
All Cast: Old Marley was dead as a doornail. (Chime)
(Chime) One of the cast begins to sing Silent Night. Cast members form a group of
carolers UR as lights come up in front of Scrooge and Marley's. Scrooge is seated at his
desk DC, Marley to his left at a lectern. The singing from outside annoys Scrooge and he
leaves to confront the carolers.
Scrooge: (confronting singers). There will be no begging in front of my place of
business, remove yourselves. Go! At once! (Singers scatter SR)
(Enter Fred from SL)
Nephew: A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!”
Scrooge: Bah! Humbug!”
Nephew: Christmas a humbug, uncle! You don’t mean that, I am sure?
Scrooge: Oh, but I do. Merry Christmas! What right have you to
be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.”
Nephew: Come, then, what right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be
morose? You’re rich enough.
Scrooge: Bah! Humbug.
Nephew: Don’t be cross, uncle!
Scrooge: What else can I be, when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry
Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for
paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour
richer; If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on
his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through
his heart.
Nephew: Uncle!
Scrooge: Nephew! keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.
Nephew: Keep it! But you don’t keep it.
Scrooge: Let me leave it alone, then. Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever
done you!
Nephew: There are many things from which I might have derived good,
by which I have not profited, and I dare say Christmas is among them, I've always
thought of Christmas time, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant
time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women
seem to open their shut-up hearts freely and think of people below them as if they really
were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures. And therefore,
uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has
done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!
(Cratchit Applauds)
Scrooge
Let me hear another sound from you, and you'll keep your Christmas by losing your job!
(turning to his nephew) You're quite a powerful speaker, sir, I wonder you don't go into
Politics.
FRED: Don't be angry, Uncle. Come! Dine with us tomorrow.
SCROOGE: Humbug! Dine with you (he laughs) I'd rather dine with the devil.
FRED: It would be a great joy to me and my wife.
SCROOGE: Your wife—yes I heard she was poor.....didn't bring much into the
marriage. Why did you get married?
FRED: Because I fell in love! I love her and she loves me.
SCROOGE: Because you fell in love! That is the only thing more ridiculous than Merry
Christmas. Good Afternoon!
FRED: I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why can't we be friends?
SCROOGE: (He sits at his desk.) You are wasting my time nephew.....Good Afternoon!
FRED: (He starts to leave, but after a few steps, he turns back to SCROOGE. ) I am
sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel, to which
I have been a party.
SCROOGE: Hummph!
FRED: But I'll keep my Christmas humor to the last, so a Merry Christmas, Uncle.
SCROOGE: Good afternoon!
FRED: And a happy New Year!
SCROOGE: Bah, humbug! (Fred walks to CRATCHIT.)
FRED: Merry Christmas, Bob!
CRATCHIT: Merry Christmas, sir.
(Scrooge steps outside to confront the peddler)
SCROOGE: Stop that confounded racket! I
have work to do.
1ST MISSIONARY: Scrooge and Marley, I believe. Do I have the pleasure of
addressing Mr. Scrooge or Mr. Marley?
SCROOGE: (Not looking up.) Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years. He died
this very night.
3rd MISSIONARY: Sorry to hear that, sir.
1ST MISSIONARY: At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge, it is usually
desirable that we make some provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at
the present time.
2nd MISSIONARY: Many thousands are in need of common comforts, sir.
SCROOGE: Are there no prisons?
3rd MISSIONARY: Plenty of prisons, sir.
SCROOGE: And the workhouses? Are they still in operation?
1ST MISSIONARY: They are.
2nd MISSIONARY: I wish we could say they were not.
SCROOGE: The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigor, then?
1ST MISSIONARY: Both are very busy, sir.
SCROOGE: Oh! I was afraid from what you said at first that something had stopped
them in their useful course. I am very glad to hear they are still operating.
3rd MISSIONARY: (Not looking up.) A few of us are trying to raise a fund to
buy the poor some food and drink, and means of warmth for the Christmas season.
1st MISSIONARY: What shall I put you down for?
SCROOGE: Nothing.
2nd MISSIONARY: You wish to remain anonymous?
SCROOGE: I wish to be left alone. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't
afford to make idle people merry. My taxes help support the establishments I have
mentioned and those who are badly off must go there.
3rd MISSIONARY: Many can’t go there.
1ST MISSIONARY: Many would rather die.
SCROOGE: If they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus
population.
2ND MISSIONARY: But, sir! Certainly you don't mean that, sir.
SCROOGE: With all my heart. (Turns to leave.)
1st. MISSIONARY: But surely you want to help them!
SCROOGE: It's not my business. It’s enough for a man to understand his own business,
and not to interfere with other people's. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon!
ALL MISSIONARIES: (sarcastically) Merry Christmas Mr. Scrooge.
(They exit stage left.)
Scene 2
(Lights go down on the offices of Scrooge and Marley. Lights come up on Tim
Standing in front of life size store windows (small stage) Mrs. Cratchit enters and
walks to DR.
MRS. CRATCHIT: come along Tim, I've got to go.
TIM: (Turning away fro the display) Oh mother look!
MRS. CRATCHIT: Did you have a nice time looking at all the wonderful things?
TIM: Oh, Yes, Mother! Did you get the goose?
MRS. CRATCHIT: Yes, the biggest goose you ever did see! Wait till your father sees it.
His eyes will pop right out of his head and he'll forget about that horrible old Mr.
Scrooge. He's got him working in that cold little room late again tonight--Christmas eve
or know Christmas Eve! (Tim becomes momentarily faint) Are you OK dear?
TIM: (recovering) Yes
MRS CRATCHIT: Now you wait here for your father. I'm going home ahead of you to
hide this goose. What a surprise it will be for father!
TIM: Goodbye mother. See you at home.
(Lights up on Scrooge and Cratchit)
SCROOGE: You'll want all day tomorrow, I suppose.
CRATCHIT: If it is quite convenient, sir.
SCROOGE: It's not convenient and it's not fair. If I were to dock half a crown for it,
you'd think yourself ill-used. And yet, you don't think me ill-used when I pay a day’s
wages for no work.
CRATCHIT: Christmas only comes once a year, sir.
SCROOGE: (He stands. He starts buttoning his coat and putting on his scarf.) A poor
excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December! But I suppose you
must have the whole day. Be here all the earlier the next morning!
CRATCHIT: I promise, sir. Merry Christmas, sir!
SCROOGE: Humbug. (Scrooge Exits. He walks into the street and sees Tim)
SCROOGE: There'll be no begging on this street, boy!
TIM: No sir. I'm not a beggar sir. I'm Tim. I'm Bob Cratchit's boy.
SCROOGE: Cratchit's boy? Well...he should be along soon. (turns to exit SL)
TIM: Merry Christmas Mr. Scrooge.
BEAT
(Scrooge turns and looks a Tim. He seems to soften, then exits saying nothing, exits SL)
(Cratchit enters)
TINY TIM: Father!
CRATCHIT: Tiny Tim! Aren’t you cold waiting out here?
TINY TIM: I was waiting for you, Father.
CRATCHIT: Well, you don’t have to wait any longer! Let’s get you home. (He picks up
TINY TIM.)
TINY TIM: Did you have a nice day at work?
CRATCHIT: Yes, and I was able to get Christmas Day off. I will be home the entire day!
TINY TIM: Oh, Father! That’s wonderful!
CRATCHIT: Let’s get you home! (They exit off left.)
(Theodore, a young, poor man is watching a small choir is singing)
THEODORE: A beautiful song, that was! Expertly done!
CHORUS LEADER: Why, thank you very much, sir!
THEODORE: Sing another!
(The CHORUS hums the same hymn during the following scene. THEODORE sees
SCROOGE coming. THEODORE crosses over to SCROOGE.)
THEODORE: Oh, Mr. Scrooge! Just the man I wanted to see!
SCROOGE: Do you have your loan payment?
THEODORE: I would like to talk to you about, Mr. Scrooge.
SCROOGE: What need is there for talk? You either have the money or you don't.
THEODORE: I know I owe you a great deal of money—
SCROOGE: And you have missed three payments.
THEODORE: I am dreadfully sorry for that, sir.
SCROOGE: Then remedy the situation by making your payments current.
THEODORE: I can't at this time. I need more time.
SCROOGE: And I need my money.
THEODORE: I know you do, sir. But—
SCROOGE: Did you not agree to the terms of the loan?
THEODORE: Yes, butSCROOGE: And did you not sign a paper promising to pay the loan back?
THEODORE: It's just I don't have the—
SCROOGE: I feel I have been more than reasonable to wait this long.
THEODORE: You have, sir. It's just that—
SCROOGE: You expect me to give you more time while I get absolutely nothing again?
Are you aware you could go to prison for this?
THEODORE: I am, sir. I just need more time.
SCROOGE: You have it, then. (Starting to exit right.)
THEODORE: Thank you, Mr. Scrooge!
SCROOGE: You have until tomorrow.
.
THEODORE: (Quickly crossing to SCROOGE.) But, Mr. Scrooge! That's Christmas
Day!
SCROOGE: I am well aware of the calendar.
THEODORE: Where will I find money on Christmas?
SCROOGE: That is none of my concern. Good day.
(SCROOGE crosses away from THEODORE.)
THEODORE: But!
(Chorus exits singing leaving Theodore alone on stage)
Scene 3
Set Change
Minion 1:Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern.
Minion 2: and having read all the newspapers, (SS)
Minion 1 and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker's-book, (Moves to MS)
Minion 2: he went home to bed.
Minion 1: He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his dead partner.
All: They were a gloomy suite of rooms.
(Scrooge is seated with a warm bowl of oatmeal. He rings his bell for the cook.)
COOK: Warm that up for you, sir?
SCROOGE: It is why I rang.
COOK: (Ladles Scrooge some more oatmeal.) Will you need anything else tonight Mr.
Scrooge?
SCROOGE: No. That will be all, (Begins ringing bell again) but do send Mrs. Boulder
in to prepare my bed-CHARWOMAN: (Enters as cook finishes with Scrooge). Already here sir. (She
proceeds to make up the bed.)
MARLEY: (Off Stage) Scroooooge..... (Minions appear and disappear) Scrooooooge....
(Charwoman starts for the door.) (transi
SCROOGE: It's humbug...humbug.
MINIONS: (Whispering) Scroooooge...
SCROOGE: What’s that?
CHARWOMAN: Me, sir? Not a thing, sir.
SCROOGE: Then, good night.
CHARWOMAN: Good night, sir.
(Sounds off stage of Marley’s Ghost approaching. Minions already occupy the
room)
SCROOGE
It's humbug still! I won't believe it.
Marley Enters
SCROOGE
(caustic and cold) How now! What do you want with me?
MARLEY
Much!
SCROOGE
Who are you?
MARLEY
Ask me who I was.
SCROOGE
Who were you then?
MARLEY
In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.
SCROOGE
Jacob? Can you -- can you sit down?
MARLEY
I can.
SCROOGE
Do it, then.
MARLEY
You don't believe in me.
SCROOGE
I don't.
MARLEY
What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your senses?
SCROOGE
I don't know.
MARLEY
Why do you doubt your senses? (Minions mimic Marley)
MINIONS: (All) Why do you doubt your senses?
SCROOGE
Because, a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats.
You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of
an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!
SCROOGE
(Scrooge falls upon his knees, and clasps his hands before his face.) Mercy! Dreadful
apparition, why do you trouble me?
MARLEY
Man of the worldly mind! do you believe in me or not?
Minion 1: Do you believe in him or not! (Minions 1-4 surround Scrooge)
Minions 2: Do you believe in him or not!
SCROOGE
I do! I must. But why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?
MARLEY
It is required of every man, that the spirit within him should walk among his fellowmen,
and travel far and wide; and if that spirit does not go forth in life, it is condemned to do
so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world and witness what it cannot share,
but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!
(Again the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands).
SCROOGE
(trembling) You are chained, Jacob. Tell me why.
MARLEY
I wear the chain I forged in life, I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I made it of my
own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you? You've
made a chain just like it, Ebenezer!
MINION 1: It was as heavy and as long as that seven Christmas Eves ago.
MINION2: You have labored on it, since.
ALL: It is a ponderous chain!
SCROOGE
Tell me more. Speak comfort to me, Jacob!
MARLEY
I have no comfort to give. Nor can I tell you what I’d like to tell you. I am permitted very
little. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere. In life, my spirit never roved
beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; now weary journeys lie before
me!'
SCROOGE
Seven years dead. And traveling all the time?
MARLEY
The whole time. No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse, never to know any
Christian spirit working kindly in this little sphere. No space of regret can make amends
for life's opportunity misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!'
SCROOGE
But you were always a good man of business, Jacob.
MARLEY
Business! Mankind should have been my business. The common welfare should have
been my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, should all have been
my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive
ocean of my business!
(Another moan from the phantoms)
(Scrooge begins to quake exceedingly.)
MARLEY
Hear me! My time is nearly gone.
SCROOGE
I will. But don't be hard upon me! Don't be flowery, Jacob! Pray
MARLEY
How it is that I appear before you in a shape that you can see, I may not tell. I have sat
invisible beside you many and many a day. I am here to-night to warn you, that you still
have a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring,
Ebenezer.
SCROOGE
You were always a good friend to me.
MARLEY
You will be haunted by Three Spirits.
(Scrooge's countenance fell almost as low as the Ghost's had done.)
SCROOGE
(in a faltering voice) Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob?
MARLEY
It is.
SCROOGE
I -- I think I'd rather not.
MARLEY
Without their visits, you cannot hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first when at
midnight.
SCROOGE
Couldn't I take them all at once, and have it all over, Jacob?
MARLEY
Expect the second when the bell tolls one. The third when the last stroke of Two has
ceased to vibrate. Look to see me no more; and for your own sake, remember what has
passed between us!
Narrator:
Minion 1: The air was filled with phantoms, wandering here and there in restless haste.
Minion 2: Every one of them wore chains like Marley's Ghost.
Minion 3.Some were linked together; none were free.
Minion 4: The misery with them all was clear.
Minion 1: Whether these creatures faded into mist, he could not tell. But they and their
spirit voices faded together; and the night became as it had been when he walked home.
Scene 4
CHIME accompanied by ghostly whispers of "scrooooge"
Stave 2: The First of the Three Spirits
SCROOGE
Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
(soft and gentle) I am.
SCROOGE
Who, and what are you?
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.
SCROOGE
Long Past?
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
No. Your past. Rise. and walk with me.
Scrooge
Spirit…may I ask what business brings you here?
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
Your welfare
Scrooge
I can’t help thinking that a night of unbroken rest might be more conducive to that end.
The Ghost of Christmas Past
Your reclamation, then. Take heed. Rise and walk with me
SCROOGE
I am mortal, and liable to fall.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
Bear but a touch of my hand there, (laying it upon his heart) and you shall be upheld in
more than this.
(Music and light, spinning with minions)
Minion 1: He was conscious of a thousand odors floating in the air.
Minion 2: each one connected with a thousand thoughts,
Minion 3: a thousand hopes,
Minion 4: a thousand joys, long, long, forgotten.
BEN BENJAMIN:
Halloo, Jack!
JACK WALTON:
Ben! Merry Christmas, Ben!
SCROOGE:
Jack Walton. Young Jack Walton. Spirits…?
GHOST:
They are but memories of the past. They have no consciousness of us.
BEN BENJAMIN:
Have a good holiday, Jack.
Jack Walton:
You too, Ben.
SCROOGE:
Yes, yes, I remember him. Both of them. Little Ben Benjamin. He used to…
BEN BENJAMIN:
See you next term, Jack. Next…
JACK WALTON
I’ll be here.
SCROOGE:
They…they’re off for the holidays and going home from school. It's Christmas time…all
of the children off for home now…No…no, not at all… there was one… (The spirit
motions for Scrooge to turn, and he sees a young boy playing with a teddy bear and
talking to it.) Yes…reading…poor boy.
FIRST SPIRIT:
Reading what, I wonder?
SCROOGE:
Reading? Oh, it was nothing.... Fantasy, all fantasy and make-believe...All of it
...nonsense.
CHILD SCROOGE: (Talking to his Bear)
Ali Baba....Genie, take me to the Gate of Damascus!
And they put him down – do you remember – at the Gate of Damascus, in his under
drawers – asleep!
SCROOGE:
Yes, yes, the genie turned the Sultan’s groom upside down and stood him on his head …
CHILD SCROOGE:
And all the thieves and the jars of oil… Yes, and remember…and remember…remember
Robinson Crusoe?
SCROOGE:
And the parrot!
CHILD SCROOGE:
Yes, the parrot! I love him best…. And Robinson Crusoe looked up in the tree and saw
the parrot and knew he hadn’t escaped and he was still there, still all alone there.
SCROOGE:
Poor Robinson Crusoe.
CHILD SCROOGE:
(sadly replacing teddy bear) Poor Robinson Crusoe.
SCROOGE:
Poor child. Poor child.
FIRST SPIRIT:
Why poor?
SCROOGE:
Fantasy…fantasy… (He tries to mask his feelings by being impolite.) It was his way, a
child’s way to…to keep from being alone.…Never matter if they are all nonsense, yes,
nonsense. But he’ll be all right, grow out of it. Yes. Yes, he did outgrow it, the nonsense.
Became a man and left there and he became, yes, successful…rich! (The sadness
returns.) Never matter…never matter (Fan, Scrooge’s sister, runs in and goes to Child
Scrooge.) Fan!
FAN:
Brother, dear brother! (She kisses Child Scrooge.)
CHILD SCROOGE:
Dear, dear Fan.
FAN:
I’ve come to bring you home, home for good and ever. Come with me, come now. (She
takes his hand and they start to run off, but the spirit stops them and signals for the light
on them to fade. They look at the spirit, aware of their role in the spirit’s “education” of
Scrooge.)
SCROOGE:
Let me watch them go? Let them be happy for a moment! (The spirit says nothing.
Scrooge turns away from them and the light goes out.) A delicate, delicate child. A breath
might have withered her.
FIRST SPIRIT:
She died a woman and had, as I remember, children.
SCROOGE:
One child.
FIRST SPIRIT:
Your nephew.
SCROOGE:
Yes, yes, Fred, my nephew. (Scrooge pauses, then tries to bluster through.) Well? Well
all of us have that, haven’t we? Childhoods? Sadness? But we grow and we become men,
masters of ourselves. (The spirit gestures for the music “Fezziwig’s Party” to begin. It is
heard first as from a great distance, then Scrooge becomes aware of it.) I’ve no time for
it, Spirit. Music and all your Christmas nonsense.
FEZZIWIG:
You ho, everybody! Raise your glasses to a merry Christmas...You too Ebenezer!
SCROOGE:
Fezziwig! It’s old Fezziwig that I apprenticed under.
FIRST SPIRIT:
Your first boss?
SCROOGE:
Oh, yes, and the best that any boy could have. There’s Dick Wilkins! Bless me. He was
very much attached to me was Dick. Poor Dick.
FEZZIWIG:
No more work tonight. Christmas Eve, Dick! Christmas, Ebenezer! Are you ready?!
YOUNG EBENEZER:
Mr. Fezziwig, we’re ready! (Dance with Kazoos)
SCROOGE:
(Echoing the phrase) A wonderful man, Feziwig, wonderful! (The music changes
suddenly and the dancers jerk into distorted postures and then begin to move in slow
motion. The celebrants slowly exit, performing a ghoulish dance to the jarring sounds.)
FIRST SPIRIT:
Just because he gave you a party? It was very small.
SCROOGE:
Small!?
FIRST SPIRIT:
He spent a few pounds of your “mortal” money. Is that so much that he deserves this
praise?
SCROOGE:
But it wasn’t the money. He had the power to make us happy, to make our service light or
burdensome. The happiness he gave was quite as great as if it had cost a fortune. That’s
what…a good boss is.
FIRST SPIRIT:
Yes?
SCROOGE:
No, no, nothing.
FIRST SPIRIT:
Something, I think.
SCROOGE:
I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now, that’s all.
FIRST SPIRIT:
But this is all in your past. Your clerk Cratchit couldn’t be here.
SCROOGE:
No, no, of course not, an idle thought. Are we done?
FIRST SPIRIT:
(Motioning for the waltz music to begin) Nearly.
SCROOGE:
(Hearing the waltz and remembering it) Surely it’s enough.
FIRST SPIRIT:
I only show the past, what it promised you. Look. Another promise.
Minion 1: Again Scrooge saw himself as a young man, but there was an eager, greedy,
restless motion in the eye.
Minion 2: ...which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the
growing tree would fall….
Minion 3: He was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl whose eyes were full
of tears
Minion4: which sparkled in the light; that shone out of the Ghost of Christmas Past.
BELLE
It matters little, to you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and
comfort you in the time to come, as I would have tried to do, then so be it.
SCROOGE
What Idol has displaced you.
BELLE
A golden one.
SCROOGE
A golden one? Oh, this is the even-handed dealing of the world! There is nothing harder
poverty, yet I am condemned for pursuing wealth!
BELLE
You fear the world too much! All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being
secure in your money. Wealth is all you think about.
SCROOGE
What of it? But I am not changed towards you.
(She turns away.)
SCROOGE
Am I?
BELLE
Our contract is an old one. It was made when we were both poor. You have changed.
When we first met, you were another man.
SCROOGE
I was a boy.
BELLE
You are not what you once were! That which promised happiness when we were one, is
full of misery now that we are two. How often I have thought of this I will not say. It is
enough that I have thought of it, and can release you.
SCROOGE
Have I ever sought release.
BELLE
In words. No. Never.
SCROOGE
In what, then.
BELLE
(looking mildly, but with steadiness, upon him) In a changed nature; in an altered spirit; If
this had never been between us, tell me, would you seek me out and try to win me
now?….Ah, no.
SCROOGE
(Scrooge seems to yield to the justice of this supposition, in spite of himself. But he says
with a struggle...) You think not?
BELLE
I would gladly think otherwise if I could, but if you were free today, I don't believe you
would choose a poor girl -- you weigh everything by Gain and profit.
SCROOGE
Maybe I have grown wiser, but-I do! I release you! May you be happy in the life you have chosen! (Gives him his ring)
(She leaves him, and they parted.)
SCROOGE:
No, no, it was not meant that way…! (Trying to speak to her) If only you had held me to
it. You should not have let me go. I was young, I did love you.
FIRST SPIRIT:
You cannot change now what you would not change then, they are your mistakes,
Ebenezer Scrooge, all of the things you could have done and did not.
SCROOGE:
Then leave me! I shall live with them. As I have, as I do; as I will.
FIRST SPIRIT:
There is another Christmas, seven years ago, when Marley died.
(A Coffin appears SR, small stage)
SCROOGE:
No! I will not see it, I will not! He dies. I could not prevent it. I did not choose for him to
die on Christmas Day.
FIRST SPIRIT:
And when his day was chosen, what did you do then?
SCROOGE:
I looked after his affairs.
FIRST SPIRIT:
His business.
SCROOGE:
Yes! His business! Mine! It was all I had, all that I could do in this world. I have nothing
to do with the world to come after.
FIRST SPIRIT: Then I will leave you.
SCROOGE:
Not yet! Don’t leave me here! Tell me what I must do! What of the other spirits?
FIRST SPIRIT:
They will come.
SCROOGE:
And you? What of you?
FIRST SPIRIT:
I am always with you. (Scrooge numbly heads to bed. Signal the chiming of Scrooge’s
bell.Scrooge sits upright in bed as he hears the chimes.)
SCROOGE:
One minute until one. No one here. No one’s coming. (A larger clock strikes one o’
clock.)
Scene 5. The Spirit of Christmas Present
A light comes on. Scrooge becomes aware of it and goes slowly to it. He sees the second
spirit, the Spirit of Christmas Present.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Come closer. Come closer and know me better, man.' I am the Ghost of Christmas
Present. Look upon me. You have never seen the like of me before.
SCROOGE
Never.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Have you never walked forth with the younger members of my family--my elder brothers
born in these later years?
SCROOGE
I don't think I have, I am afraid I have not. Have you had many brothers, Spirit.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT
More than eighteen hundred.
SCROOGE
A tremendous family to provide for….. Spirit, conduct me where you will. I went forth
last night on compulsion (emphasize this word), and I learnt a lesson which is working
now. Tonight, if you have more to teach me, let me profit by it.
SECOND SPIRIT: You will see what you will see, Scrooge, no more. Will you walk out
with me this Christmas Eve?
SCROOGE:
But I am not yet dressed.
SECOND SPIRIT:
Take my tails, dear boy, we’re leaving.
SCROOGE:
Wait!
SECOND SPIRIT:
What is it now?
SCROOGE:
Christmas Present, did you say?
SECOND SPIRIT:
I did.
SCROOGE:
Then we are traveling here? In this town? London? Just down there?
SCROOGE:
Then could we walk? Your flying is…well, too sudden for an old man. Well?
SECOND SPIRIT:
It’s your Christmas, Scrooge; I am only the guide.
SCROOGE:
(Puzzled) Then we can walk? (The spirit nods.) Where are you guiding me to?
SECOND SPIRIT:
Yes, yes, of course.
SCROOGE:
(Puzzled) Where are you guiding me to?
SECOND SPIRIT:
Bob Cratchit's.
SCROOGE:
My clerk?
SECOND SPIRIT:
You did want to talk to him? (Scrooge pauses, uncertain how to answer.) Don’t worry,
Scrooge, you won’t have to.
SCROOGE:
(Trying to change the subject, to cover his error) Shouldn’t be much of a trip. With
fifteen shillings week, how far off can it be?
SECOND SPIRIT:
A world away, Scrooge, at least that far. (Scrooge and the spirit start to step off a curb
when a funeral procession enters with a child’s coffin, followed by the poorhouse
children, who are singing.) That is the way to it, Scrooge. (The procession follows the
coffin offstage; Scrooge and the spirit exit after the procession. As they leave, the lights
focus on Mrs. Cratchit and her children. Mrs. Cratchit sings as she puts Tiny Tim and the
other children to bed, all in one bed. She pulls a dark blanket over them.)
MRS. CRATCHIT:
(Singing)
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses,
Blacks and bays, dapples and grays,
All the pretty little horses.
To sleep now, all of you. Christmas tomorrow. (She kisses them and goes to Bob
Cratchit, who is by the hearth.) How did our little Tiny Tim behave?
BOB CRATCHIT:
As good as gold and better. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him
in the church because he was a cripple and it might be pleasant for them to remember
upon Christmas Day who made the lame to walk and the blind to see.
MRS. CRATCHIT:
He’s a good boy, Robert.
BOB CRATCHIT: Yes, always,... How does he seem to you lately, Mother? Does he seem
weaker?
MRS. CRATCHIT: He has his good days and his bad days, Father, but I don't think he's
weaker, and he's always in such good sprit.
BOB CRATCHIT: Yes, always, its hard to imagine....well, it won't be long until we've
saved enough to get him to a proper doctor. By February, certainly!
MRS. CRATCHIT: He'll be fine till then, Robert.
BOB CRATCHIT:
You know what I think? I think a song is what’s needed. Tim!
MRS. CRATCHIT:
Shush! I’ve just gotten him down and he needs all the sleep he can get.
BOB CRATCHIT:
If he’s asleep on Christmas Eve, I’ll be much mistaken. Tim! He must sing, dear, there is
nothing else that might make him well.
TINY TIM:
Yes, Father?
BOB CRATCHIT:
Are you awake?
TINY TIM:
Just a little.
BOB CRATCHIT:
A song then! (The children, led by Tiny Tim, stand up to sing “Deck the Halls".)
Peter: Father, I think we should have a toast, I'll get the punch. (Peter moves toward the
door)
Mrs. Cratchit: Father, a toast at this hour?
BOB CRATCHIT: I don't think there's any stopping it now, Mother!
Martha/Belinda: It's as good a time as any, Mother, Maybe better. (All Agree, etc...)
CRATCHIT BOY: That's right Mother, its time for a toast!
Peter: (returning with the punch) Here we go, nice and warm, ...now, now, there's enough
for everybody if you please.
BOB CRATCHIT:
(Raising his glass) My dear, to Mr. Scrooge. I give you Mr. Scrooge, the founder
of the feast.
MRS. CRATCHIT:
The founder of the feast indeed! I wish I had him here! I’d give him a piece of my
mind to feast upon, and hope he’d have a good appetite for it.
BOB CRATCHIT:
My dear, Christmas Eve.
MRS. CRATCHIT:
It should be Christmas Eve, I’m sure, when one drinks to the health of such an
odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge. You know he is, Robert!
Nobody knows it better than you do, poor dear.
BOB CRATCHIT:
I only know one thing on Christmas: that one must be charitable.
MRS. CRATCHIT:
I’ll drink to his health for your sake and the day’s, not for his. Long life to him! A
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. He’ll be very merry and very happy, I
have no doubt.
BOB CRATCHIT;
If he cannot be, we must be happy for him. To Mr. Scrooge
All: (half-heartedly) To Mr. Scrooge.
TIM: And God bless us everyone!
ALL: And God bless us everyone!
SCROOGE:
Spirit. (She holds up his hand; all stop singing and look at him.) I…I have seen enough.
(When the spirit signals to the children, they leave the stage, singing the carol quietly.
Tiny Tim remains, covered completely by the dark blanket, disappearing against the
black.) Tiny Tim…will he live?
SECOND SPIRIT:
He is very ill. Even song cannot keep him whole through a cold winter.
SCROOGE:
But you haven’t told me if he will live!
SECOND SPIRIT:
(Imitating Scrooge) If he be like to die, he had better do it and decrease the surplus
population. (Scrooge turns away) Erase, Scrooge, those words from your thoughts. You
are not the judge. Do not judge, then. It may be that in the sight of heaven you are more
worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child. My God! To hear an
insect on a leaf pronouncing that there is too much life among his hungry brothers in the
dust. Good- bye, Scrooge.
SCROOGE:
But is there no happiness in Christmas Present?
SECOND SPIRIT:
There is.
SCROOGE:
Take me there.
SECOND SPIRIT:
It is at the home of your nephew…
SCROOGE:
No!
SECOND SPIRIT:
(Disgusted with Scrooge.) Then there is none.
SCROOGE:
But that isn’t enough…You must teach me!
SECOND SPIRIT:
Would you have a teacher, Scrooge? Look at your own words.
SCROOGE:
But the first spirit gave me more…!
SECOND SPIRIT:
He was Christmas Past. There was a lifetime he could choose from. I have only this day,
one day, and you Scrooge. I have nearly lived my fill of both. Christmas Present must be
gone at Midnight. That is near now. (She speaks to two beggar children who pause shyly
at the far side of the stage.The children are thin and sickly; they are barefoot and wear
filthy rags.) Come. (They go to him.)
SCROOGE:
Is this the last spirit who is to come to me?
SECOND SPIRIT:
They are no spirits. They are real. Hunger, Ignorance. Not spirits, Scrooge, passing
dreams. They are real. They walk your streets, and look to you for comfort. And you
deny them. Deny them not too long, Scrooge. They will grow and multiply and they will
not remain children.
SCROOGE:
Have they no place to go, no resource for help?
SECOND SPIRIT:
(Again imitating Scrooge) Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? (Tenderly to
the children) Come. It’s Christmas Eve. (She leads them offstage.) Minions Repeat.
Scene 6. The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come
Scrooge is entirely alone for a long moment. He is frightened by the darkness and feels it
approaching him. Suddenly he stops, senses the presence of the third spirit, turns toward
him, and sees him. The spirit is bent and cloaked. No physical features are
distinguishable.
SCROOGE:
You are the third. (The spirit says nothing.) The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. (The
spirit says nothing.) Speak to me. Tell me what is to happen—to me, all of us. (The spirit
says nothing.) Then show me what I must see. (The spirit points. Light illuminates the
shadows of a graveyard and an unmarked grave .) Spirit, why do you show this to me?
Who’s grave is this? (Spirit says nothing) Speak to me please! (Spirit motions to
Scrooges room)… I know it too well, cold and cheerless. (The cook and the charwoman
enter Scrooge’s room.) What is…? There are thieves in my rooms! (He starts forward to
confront them, but the spirit beckons for him to stop.)
COOK:
He ain’t about, is he? (The charwoman laughs.) Oh, wait a minute, he’s dead! Poor old
scrooge has met his end! (She laughs with the charwoman.)
CHARWOMAN:
An’ about time for it, too; ain’t been alive for half his life.
COOK:
But the doorman’s not around, is he…?
SPARSIT:
(Emerging from the blackness.) Lookin’ for someone, ladies? (The cook shrieks, but the
charwoman treats the matter more practically, anticipating competition from Sparsit.)
CHARWOMAN:
There ain’t enough but for the two of us!
SPARSIT:
More than enough…if you know where to look. (Moves toward closet)
COOK:
Hardly decent is what I’d say, hardly decent, the poor old guys barely cold and you’re
thievin’ his wardrobe.
SPARSIT:
You’re here out of love, are ya?
SPARSIT:
Come on ladies. (motions for the women to join him).
COOK:
(Snatching the cuff links from the shirt Scrooge wears.) They’re gold, ain’t they?
SPARSIT:
Real gold!
CHARWOMAN:
I always had a fancy for that nightcap of his. My old man could use it. (She takes the
nightcap from Scrooge’s head. Sparsit playfully removes Scrooge’s outer garment, the
coat or cloak that he has worn in the previous scenes.)
COOK:
Do you think that bell he’s always ringing at me is worth anything? (Freez.)
SCROOGE:
No more! No more! (As the spirit directs Scrooge’s attention to the tableau of the three
thieves standing poised over the silver bell,) I cannot watch. I won’t watch any longer.
Let us go from here. Anywhere. (The spirit directs his attention to the Cratchit’s; the
Famly is gathered at Tim’s Grave. Peter is reading.)
PETER:
“And he took a child and set him in the midst of them.” (Complete scripture)
MRS. CRATCHIT:
We must stay strong, Robert. We mustn’t fall apart for it, we’ve got to-BOB CRATCHIT:
No. No, he wouldn’t have wanted that…. Come now. You won’t guess who I’ve seen:
Scrooge’s nephew, Fred. And he asked about all of us, and said he was terribly sorry and
to give his condolences to everyone. How he ever knew about it, I don’t know. He gave
me his card, then he told me to send Peter to him one day this week, because he thinks he
has a position for him.
Cratchit Boy:
Did you hear that, Peter!
BOB CRATCHIT:
And then before you know it, you’ll be setting up for yourself.
PETER:
Oh, go on.
BOB CRATCHIT:
Well, it will happen, one day, but remember, when that day does come—as it must—we
must none of us forget poor Tiny Tim and this first parting in our family. (Group Hug)
SCROOGE:
He died! No, no! (He steps back and the scene disappears; he moves away from the
spirit.)You cannot tell me that he has died, for that Christmas has not come! I will not let
it come! I will be there… Spirit, hear me. I am not the man I was. I will not be that man
that I have been for so many years. Why show me all of this if I am past all hope? Assure
me that I may yet change these shadows you have shown me. Let the boy live! I will
honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year-- in the Past, the Present, and
the Future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons
that they teach. Oh, tell me that I am not too late!
(Blackout. When the lights come up again, Scrooge is in bed. The third spirit has
disappeared. Scrooge awakens and looks around his room. Colored lights laminate the
entire set. Angelic music is heard.) I’m alive… I’m alive! I am here; the shadows to come
may be dispelled. They will be. I know they will be. (He dresses himself hurriedly.) I
don’t know what to do. I’m as light as a feather, merry as a boy again. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! A Happy New Year to all the world! Hello there! Whoop! Hello! What
day of the month is it? How long did the spirits keep me? Never mind. I don’t care. (He
opens the window and calls to a boy in the street below.) What’s today?
BOY:
Eh?
SCROOGE:
What’s the day, my fine fellow?
BOY:
Today? Why, Christmas Day!
SCROOGE:
It’s Christmas Day! I haven’t missed it! The spirits have done it all in one night. They can
do anything they like. Of course they can. Of course they can save Tim. Hello, my fine
fellow!
BOY:
Hello!
SCROOGE:
Do you know the poultry house on the next street at the corner?
BOY:
I should hope I do.
SCROOGE:
An intelligent boy. A remarkable boy. Do you know whether they’ve sold the prize
turkey that was hanging up there? Not the little prize; the big one.
BOY:
What, the one as big as me?
SCROOGE:
What a delightful boy! Yes, my bucko!
BOY:
It’s hanging there now.
SCROOGE:
It is? Go and buy it.
BOY:
Oh, go on!
SCROOGE:
I’m in earnest! Go and buy it and tell ‘em to bring it here that I may give them the
directions where to take it. Come back with the butcher and I’ll give you a shilling. Come
back in less than two minutes and I’ll give you half a crown!
BOY:
On my way, sir! (He exits.)
SCROOGE:
I’ll send it to Bob Cratchit’s. He won’t know who’s sent it. It’s twice the size of Tiny Tim
and such a Christmas dinner it will make. (Carolers suddenly appear singing “Hark! The
Herald Angels Sing.” Scrooge leans out the window and joins them in the song.) I must
dress, I must. It’s Christmas Day! I must be all in my best for such a day. Where is my
China silk shirt? (The boy and the butcher run in with the turkey.) What? Back already?
And such a turkey. Why, you can’t carry that all the way to Cratchit’s. Here boy, here is
your half a crown and here an address in Camden Town. See that it gets there. Here,
money for the cab, for the turkey, and for you, good man! (The boy and the butcher,
delighted, catch the money and run out. Scrooge sees the gentleman visitor
walking by the window.) Merry Christmas, sir!
Scrooge: (raising his arms to the heavens) Merry Christmas. (reflective) …Merry
Christmas. Thanks God for a merry Christmas. (Cast enters singing We Wish You a
Merry Christmas)
END