Mr Scrooge

A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future.

A lilting Christmas show based on Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. The added dimensions of musical treatment make this a particularly enjoyable new way of presenting this grand story of hardhearted Ebenezer Scrooge, who hates Christmas and is visited successively by three ghosts: the ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. They bring revelations to Scrooge, mainly about himself, and he's shocked into action that centers about the poor but happy Cratchit family and their brave little crippled son Tiny Tim. The songs are varied and catchy. (from publisher's website)

Based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, this fresh, funny new version of Scrooge, by Channel 4 comedy writer Brian Luff, takes the much-loved Christmas story and turns it into a traditional British pantomime. While staying true to the original story, and using lots of the original dialogue, the script includes plenty of snappy banter, knockabout humour, audience participation and slick, modern comedy routines. The production requires a very large cast with lots of parts for children. It features Mrs Fezziwig as the panto dame and an hilarious double act called McKinley & Maconie - a couple of out of work actors turned charity fundraisers. There's a messy slapstick "grape treading" routine with Mr & Mrs Fezziwig during Scrooge's journey with the Ghost of Christmas Present and the part of Jacob Marley's ghost is ideal for a comedian. Have a very Merry Christmas with Mr Scrooge!

What happened to Ebenezer Scrooge after the night he was visited by the three spirits? When we left Ebenezer Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol, he appeared to be a man transformed. But did he sincerely repent and earn admission to heaven? The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge, written in Dickensian style and with tongue firmly lodged in cheek, follows Scrooge through the Court of Heavenly Justice, where his soul's fate is to be determined. In this courtroom drama, using frequent flashbacks, the author uncovers startling evidence, much of it directly from Dickens's classic, that reveals Scrooge to have lived a saintly life before being confronted by three Christmas ghosts. Evidence mounts that Mr. Scrooge struck a Faustian bargain with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, a deal to extend his own mortality in exchange for yielding his soul as a tool for the forces of darkness to infiltrate heaven. Readers will enjoy the remaking of some of Dickens's best-known characters. Tiny Tim emerges as a villain, while little Eppie, borrowed from George Eliot's Silas Marner, is Scrooge's protector and source of salvation. This new novel provides the much-needed redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge's reputation and offers a welcome departure from the standard saccharine fare at Christmastime. Dickens buffs will have a merry time trying to find where Dickens's voice ends and the author's begins. All readers will puzzle over how we could have so misjudged Ebenezer Scrooge, or whether we judged Scrooge aright from the start.

Based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, this sequel is set twenty years after Scrooge's famous reformation and has him teaming up with a trio of ghosts to help the restless spirit of Jacob Marley.