A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
At the end of unit nine we will be doing a performance of the classic novella 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens .Published in 1843 ‘A Christmas Carol’ has since become the poster child for Christmas stories and has influenced other massively iconic Christmas tales like 'The Grinch that Stole Christmas' which was essentially a retold version of the original. Throughout this unit we will be collaborating with the dance and musical theatre students in our college to incorporate singing and dancing into our production making it a piece of musical theatre.
The story follows the main protagonist Ebeneezer Scrooge who at the beginning of the novella, is shown to be a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. Dickens even describes him as such : "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." Suggesting he's an old, bitter, miserly man living in Victorian London. A ruthless business man who idolises wealth. The only thing we see him care for initially is money, and even events like Christmas are meaningless to him. The story takes Scrooge on a journey with three Christmas Spirits , Christmas past, present, and future all visiting him to show him vital aspects of his life and the world around him in an attempt to change his selfish ways and to not only embrace Christmas, but to help, support those in need and spend time with loved ones.
Context
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was born 7 February 1812 in Portsmouth and Died 9 June 1870. He was an English writer and social critic. He's known to have created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is highly regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was sent prison for debt . Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas , hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.His novels are still widely recognised till this day.
Dickens's literary success began in 1836 with his serial publication of The Pickwick Papers . After a few years since The Pickwick Papers were published, he had become an international literary celebrity, famously known for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. Cliffhanger endings in his serial publications kept readers in suspense with anticipation for more novels.
Victorian Era
Queen Victoria reigned from 1837-1907 although she had limited power . Citizens disliked royalty and had little respect for the throne , The Victorian government was the earliest constitutional monarchies of the world and Victorian Society was based on class.
Upper Class- King , Queen , Astrocats , Nobles, Dukes , Spiritual lords
- Higher Upper Class ; Great officers of England, Barnonets , Temporal Lords
- Lower Upper Class ; Counrty wealthy Gentleman , Large scale Businessman
Middle Class
- Higher Middle Class - high in terms of salaries and social status compared to Lower Middle Class
- Lower Middle Class - Worked on the orders of the higher middle class
Working Class
- Skilled Class - Unskilled labors working under supervision.
- Unskilled Class - Worst category labor people
Underclass
- The poor - Poor and Orphan who relied on charity of others
- Prostitutes - Were Bottom of society
The Poor Law
In 1834 a new Poor Law was introduced just nine years before A Christmas Carol was published.
It was believed that this law would take beggars of the streets and encourage poor people to work hard to support themselves, ultimately reducing the cost of living and looking after the poor.
It was believed that this law would take beggars of the streets and encourage poor people to work hard to support themselves, ultimately reducing the cost of living and looking after the poor.
The new Poor Law ensured that the poor were housed in workhouses, clothed and fed. Children who entered the workhouse would receive some schooling. In return for this care, all workhouse paupers would have to work for several hours each day.
However, not all Victorians shared this point of view. Some people, such as Richard Oastler, spoke out against the new Poor Law, calling the workhouses ‘Prisons for the Poor’. The poor themselves hated and feared the threat of the workhouse so much that there were riots in northern towns.
Themes
Class
We are able to see different classes being portrayed within A Christmas Carol, upper class, middle class and the poor class . During the time Dickens wrote the novel, poverty was a huge issue and Dickens was able to relate to their situations looking back at his own life. If you were underclass during those times you would've heavily relied on your parish to provide for you. Upperclass people like Scrooge could have made a difference to these people lives instead when the solicitors who are normally middle class asked him for money, Scrooge asked if there were no 'prisons', 'Workhouses' and if the 'poor law' was in action . This was the views and opinions of many of the upper class business men and the type of responses they would've made because they felt it was the poor peoples fault and that they should 'decrease the surplus population' to make matters easier.Bob Cratchit would have been considered a middle classed worker ,but because Scrooge paid him so little , he was practically poor and his crippled son Tiny Tim had to work in the workhouses for extra money . The workhouses left many of the children crippled, deformed and in worse cases dead and that would soon be the fate of Tiny Tim unless Bob Cratchit gets a raise in his wages .During Christmas we see how humble they are and grateful despite what little they have. A goose was their equivalent to a turkey because they could not afford it whereas the rich would have a turkey plus the banquet. Poverty is definitely shown during when we see the Ghost of Christmas yet to come , the part of the town, scrooge 'had never penetrated before' the walls 'foul and narrow' it is described as 'slipshod and ugly', emphasising Scrooge had never seen the horrible circumstances of deprivation that these unfortunate . underclass people were born into. Throughout the novella It is made very clear that Scrooge did not treat the people who worked for him nice or fairly as the laundress and Charwoman gladly took his valuable belongings to sell and make money. This shows that the same disrespect Scrooge gave to the underclass or any class lower than himself was the same disrespect they showed him when died and was irrelevant to peoples lives , they only care about what happened to his money or belongings.
Christmas
Isolation
We see Isolation playing a huge part in the Christmas Carol and it being portrayed in different ways , Firstly we see in the Cratchit Family , they are isolated from the other social classes in society , they do not have the same privileges as other class children and by the way they dress and speak would show this . Fred is also isolated from his Uncle Scrooge due to the resement that Scrooge holds towards his nephew for the death of his older sister from giving birth . The same treatment his Scrooges Father gave him when he was younger as his mother also died while giving Birth to him. Due to his own Fathers resent towards him Scrooge was isolated , alone and on his own from a young age. This is evident in the scene when we see young Scrooge all on his own isolated from the other kids at school reading Ali Ba Baa, a fictional character who he turned into his imaginary friend. This is why Scrooge never enjoyed Christmas because he was never with family and never had a loving childhood which is why when he started earning money he grew into the old miserable person and dismissed Christmas all together.
Time
The theme of time in A Christmas Carol shows Scrooge's experiences with the three ghost last one night, but to him feel like several days, and encompass many years worth of emotional crises and changes in his characteristics. The story itself is structured as a race against time with the two ticking time bombs of Tiny Tim's illness and Scrooge's own eventual death facing Marleys death. So when the Ghost of Christmas yet to come shows us the future we see how things that may be need yo be somehow prevented or at least put off indefinitely. So time is both totally stretchable and totally scarce, which only brings emphasis to the surreal, chaotic feeling of the story. Especially as Marley whose Scrooges long life business partner shows us how his time on earth has effected his time during death and how the seven years he has had in death have bared heavy chains through the way he has treated others. We also see Scrooges development over time as a character, at first he started as an employee but as time went on we see the more money he gained the more horrible he became and how this affected his relationship with the love oh his life, Belle .Scrooge replaced his love for Belle with a 'Golden Idol' suggesting his love for Belle was replaced with money. It was shown to Scrooge in the future that due to his actions, Tiny Tim dies because his father Bob Cratchit who is an employee of Scrooge was getting paid too little rendering him incapable of paying for his sons medicine. The Ghost of Christmas yet to come shows us how precious time is and how actions done in the past are unchangeable but what action we take in the present day decides the outcome of our future. Which is why when Scrooge saw his future and the people around him he asked the ghost are these things that "May be" or " Must be" giving scrooge the time to make up for his selfish ways.
Change
We are able to see different classes being portrayed within A Christmas Carol, upper class, middle class and the poor class . During the time Dickens wrote the novel, poverty was a huge issue and Dickens was able to relate to their situations looking back at his own life. If you were underclass during those times you would've heavily relied on your parish to provide for you. Upperclass people like Scrooge could have made a difference to these people lives instead when the solicitors who are normally middle class asked him for money, Scrooge asked if there were no 'prisons', 'Workhouses' and if the 'poor law' was in action . This was the views and opinions of many of the upper class business men and the type of responses they would've made because they felt it was the poor peoples fault and that they should 'decrease the surplus population' to make matters easier.Bob Cratchit would have been considered a middle classed worker ,but because Scrooge paid him so little , he was practically poor and his crippled son Tiny Tim had to work in the workhouses for extra money . The workhouses left many of the children crippled, deformed and in worse cases dead and that would soon be the fate of Tiny Tim unless Bob Cratchit gets a raise in his wages .During Christmas we see how humble they are and grateful despite what little they have. A goose was their equivalent to a turkey because they could not afford it whereas the rich would have a turkey plus the banquet. Poverty is definitely shown during when we see the Ghost of Christmas yet to come , the part of the town, scrooge 'had never penetrated before' the walls 'foul and narrow' it is described as 'slipshod and ugly', emphasising Scrooge had never seen the horrible circumstances of deprivation that these unfortunate . underclass people were born into. Throughout the novella It is made very clear that Scrooge did not treat the people who worked for him nice or fairly as the laundress and Charwoman gladly took his valuable belongings to sell and make money. This shows that the same disrespect Scrooge gave to the underclass or any class lower than himself was the same disrespect they showed him when died and was irrelevant to peoples lives , they only care about what happened to his money or belongings.
Christmas
Christmas is a Christian celebration of the birth of Christ. It is a time when families and friends come together to share food and exchange gifts. The story of Scrooge takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and uses the ideas of generosity and compassion that we associate with Christmas to highlight the changes and transformation of the main character. We see Scrooge change from a miserly man, contrasting with his nephew Fred who is the embodiment of the spirit of Christmas and is someone who is full of joy.
The Christmas spirit is everywhere in this play however Scrooge was the only one who did not appreciate the Christmas spirit but rather people should be ' boiled in their own pudding' , expressing how much he despises Christmas . When the Ghost of Christmas Day shows us the Cratchit Family behind closed doors we see how they are a humble family despite the little food they have and that they focus on family and enjoying the time they spend together rather than money. The narrative then explains that the Christmas Spirit reaches a 'Solitary lighthouse' a 'ship at sea' and everyone 'good or bad had a kinder word for one another'. emphasising everyone was affected by the Christmas spirit and put there differences aside. By the end of the novel Scrooge says he will honour Christmas with all heart , showing that the three Ghost have shown him not only is Christmas about having to spend money but about spending time with loved ones and giving to the people around him who may have less .
Isolation
We see Isolation playing a huge part in the Christmas Carol and it being portrayed in different ways , Firstly we see in the Cratchit Family , they are isolated from the other social classes in society , they do not have the same privileges as other class children and by the way they dress and speak would show this . Fred is also isolated from his Uncle Scrooge due to the resement that Scrooge holds towards his nephew for the death of his older sister from giving birth . The same treatment his Scrooges Father gave him when he was younger as his mother also died while giving Birth to him. Due to his own Fathers resent towards him Scrooge was isolated , alone and on his own from a young age. This is evident in the scene when we see young Scrooge all on his own isolated from the other kids at school reading Ali Ba Baa, a fictional character who he turned into his imaginary friend. This is why Scrooge never enjoyed Christmas because he was never with family and never had a loving childhood which is why when he started earning money he grew into the old miserable person and dismissed Christmas all together.
Time
The theme of time in A Christmas Carol shows Scrooge's experiences with the three ghost last one night, but to him feel like several days, and encompass many years worth of emotional crises and changes in his characteristics. The story itself is structured as a race against time with the two ticking time bombs of Tiny Tim's illness and Scrooge's own eventual death facing Marleys death. So when the Ghost of Christmas yet to come shows us the future we see how things that may be need yo be somehow prevented or at least put off indefinitely. So time is both totally stretchable and totally scarce, which only brings emphasis to the surreal, chaotic feeling of the story. Especially as Marley whose Scrooges long life business partner shows us how his time on earth has effected his time during death and how the seven years he has had in death have bared heavy chains through the way he has treated others. We also see Scrooges development over time as a character, at first he started as an employee but as time went on we see the more money he gained the more horrible he became and how this affected his relationship with the love oh his life, Belle .Scrooge replaced his love for Belle with a 'Golden Idol' suggesting his love for Belle was replaced with money. It was shown to Scrooge in the future that due to his actions, Tiny Tim dies because his father Bob Cratchit who is an employee of Scrooge was getting paid too little rendering him incapable of paying for his sons medicine. The Ghost of Christmas yet to come shows us how precious time is and how actions done in the past are unchangeable but what action we take in the present day decides the outcome of our future. Which is why when Scrooge saw his future and the people around him he asked the ghost are these things that "May be" or " Must be" giving scrooge the time to make up for his selfish ways.
Change
Change is a big theme within the play, we see a drastic change in Scrooge's character , we see him being described as 'hard as a flint' highlighting that people could not break him down or if they get too close they might hurt themselves . It goes on to list a few adjectives 'Squeezing, wrenching, grasping , scraping, clutching ' this could express how he holds on to his money at all cost . Furthermore , nobody ever stopped him on the secret' indicating nobody wanted to be around him and his melancholic ways. When Christmas was spoken about, his reply was "Bah Humbug" but by the end of the novel he "Honours Christmas with all his heart". This shows how the Ghost of Christmas spirit changed Scrooges perception on not just his attitude toward Christmas but to life.
Money
Money is a very big topic in A Christmas Carol, as we see from the past that since Scrooge was a young man he was pursuing wealth not happiness. It was for his idolisation of money that lead to him and the love of his life to part ways."What idol has displaced you?" is what Young man Scrooge asked Belle after she claimed another 'idol' had replaced her, in which she replied "A Golden One".This suggest that Scrooge displaced Belle from his heart and replaced her with his greed and obsession for money. His long life business partner Marley also had an obsession for money as he now wears the 'Ponderous' chains he forged, and must now live with his regrets for eternity.This would've ben the same fate for Scrooge if his friend did not warn him. Scrooge has never given a penny to charity and when his humble assistant Bob Cratchit asks for a day off to spend time with his family for Christmas, Scrooge even goes as far to say Bob is "Robbing" him of his money . The Ghost of Christmas Present shows us how happy the Crachit Family are despite what little money they have. Bob Cratchit son Tiny Tim is described to be as "good as gold" by the church , because he is rich from the heart despite having not so great health as he is a cripple. Unfortunately whilst seeing into the future we see that Tiny Tim dies from not getting his medicine due to Bob Cratchit not getting paid enough.Furthermore , whilst seeing into the future we see that after Scrooges death no one cared for him, they only wondered about what happened to all his money and expensive materialistic things.The business men concluded that the probably gave all his money to his company and that his funeral was likely to be very cheap as not many people would care to show up to it.This is all due to the fact that Scrooges cruel nature and love for only money lead him to have no one who cared for him.
This shows that Scrooge pursued money instead of happiness which lead him to become a horrible person as he lost all his loved ones on his journey.
Working in our separate acting class we split into two groups and then we challenged to make a short story of a Christmas carol with a unique twist, the twist could be whatever we wanted . In this task we was to come up with a 10 minutes piece covering the whole play in any style that we wanted to do. Our group decided to do a musical version and added in modern songs and routines , I really liked our work and thought it was effective so that we get a better understanding of the text and also play around and have fun with production to se what ideas arise.
I also enjoyed watching the other groups summary of the play , they made it into a game version whereby the narrator would role a dice of Scrooges choices however , he would never get the choice he wanted . I felt this was a smart way to show that Scrooge has no way of changing his fate an how he should change his ways.
In one lesson with the Music Theatre students , we all sat down to watch the 1951 film 'Scrooge' which is a black and white interpretation of the novella. I thought the film was a respectful interpretation to the original story because it kept the same lines and thematic choices. After watching the film I gained a further understanding of the story as well as gaining potential ideas to use for are production.
Since the film was very close to the original , I thought that it was a useful source of information for us to use as a foundation into understanding the story further and for sparking more ideas on how we would transfer the story from film onto a stage space .
Due to the fact that the book was written in 1843 and the current date is 2018 we will need to chose whether to set it in a modern or Victorian setting. We will also need to decide what style our costumes will be in , modern or Victorian and same with the music.
One idea was having it victorian style costumes and set design but have a modern soundtrack like in the show ‘Peaky Blinders’.
After receiving a copy of the Christmas Carol script and reading through it , we all had a good idea on how it would work as a musical. The script was quite simple so we wrote a few notes on where we could make changes or add things. We then started to have a look at the characters and decide on which ones we was going to audition for. I was very interested in playing the main protagonist Scrooge because firstly, since I've been on this course I've never gone for the main role and secondly I liked how serious and dislikable the character was so I wanted to put a bit of humour to the role.
Audition
I thought my audition was very successful as I had no worries about not getting the role wanted. I walked in the room naturally confident and acted out a scene as Scrooge using my physicality and putting on a voice for the role. I also sang the song Don't by Bryson Tiller to show that I can sing for the role and I wouldn't feel uncomfortable doing it .
After successfully having done my audition I unfortunately didn't get the role as Scrooge but instead I got a multi role as Young boy Scrooge, Young Man Scrooge and Business Man One, which I was pleased with. After the auditions and the castings we started having run throughs with the play. This is to get more familiar with our lines and to get a rough understanding on how the piece should move, look, and feel. Getting general ideas about different parts and staging of different scenes early on is important so that we have more time to experiment with different concepts, to get to know the space we are working in more comfortably, and perhaps most importantly, understanding each others characters and their relations with each other and the story.
Run throughs
After a few Run throughs we added notes on where we could apply songs in specific scenes , solo songs and maybe songs where we think the whole cast could be used.
One ideas was to do a musical number and dance routine with the song 'Hard Knock Life' from Annie. The song contrast well with context because the song was used for the children in Annie at the orphanage who had a hard laboursome life. This links to context during the victorian times in relation to the poor Victorian children at the Workhouses who would had similar emotions as the workhouse left a lot of them crippled or dead..
However because A Christmas Carol is a very serious tale set in old victorian times, an upbeat, fairly modern, playful song dropped in a play filled with ghost, regret and sorrow wouldn't work thematically or be appropriate to the time setting and tone of the play. But if we wanted the story to move in a cheerful , comical direction , then Hard knock life would be a good choice.
Hot seating
In order to step in the shoes of our characters more, we used a very known method of improvisation called hot seating. Hot-seating is when an actor is in character and answers questions from an audience while still in character. Hot-seating helps actors to use their imagination and fill in the gaps of the information on their character that was available to them . Hot-seating also makes the actor be more natural when playing the role as the character because they are playing the character outside of scenes. This means they are able to convince us that they are still that character and make their performance more believable, immersing themselves in the characters world .
Final Performance
The last few days of rehearsals were quite stressful regarding preparation and the lack of faith with some cast members not thinking the play was going to be good. However when it came to the actual performance , it seemed to really of come together in a way that it hadn't previously. With increased energy and effort In everyone of the cats and I felt that individual performances from everyone including me , were greatly improved on the nights which helped the production have a good impact on the audience.
There were moments, on both performance nights where there was technical difficulties. On the first night the lights at times were not right for particular scenes. On the second night there was a tech failure in my scene, where the backing track for the song during the Ghost of Christmas Past Scene didn't play, so we had to stand there and freeze. This random technical failure caused them to blackout the scene for about four minuets and the show was completely stopped. Despite these technical failures and that one out of time transition, I felt that our performance did much better than what some cast members thought would originally be the outcome. We all had fun in costume so I feel we should be happy for what we got done and achieved.
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