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A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE
Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 3m
Patrick Barlow
“Picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December! It’s not fair sir d’ye hear me? Just not fair.”
It wouldn’t be Christmas without A Christmas Carol. In this new stage version, Patrick Barlow takes Charles Dickens’ classic story of greed, grief, ghoulish ghosts and eleventh-hour redemption, and makes it feel brand new again.
Nominee: 2016 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy
This adaptation brings the timeless tale to life with just five actors and all the wit, flair and theatrical invention you’d expect from Patrick Barlow, who brought The 39 Stepsto the stage so memorably.
Charles Dickens’ tale, adapted by Olivier Award winning and Tony nominated Patrick Barlow, returned to the stage of the Noël Coward Theatre in 2015, starring Jim Broadbent as Ebenezer Scrooge. Other plays adapted by Patrick Barlow include The 39 Steps, also published by Samuel French.
ACTOR ONE (M) EBENEZER SCROOGE – standard English – 50–60
ACTOR TWO (M) BOB CRATCHIT – cockney – 40 MARLEY’S GHOST – standard English – 50–60 YOUNG SCROOGE – standard – 16–19 LITTLE SCROOGE – standard – 8 PETER CRATCHIT – cockney – 14 KATIE CRATCHIT – cockney – 9 BOY IN STREET – cockney – 12 FREDERICK’S CHILDREN – standard – 3–12 VARIOUS NARRATORS, CAROL SINGERS, DEBTORS, SPIRITS, SKATERS, ETC.
ACTOR THREE (F) MRS LACK – cockney – 40 LAVINIA BENTHAM – standard – 35 MRS GRIMES – Northern English – 60 FRAN – standard – 18 ISABELLA – Sweet spoken Irish – 18–28 GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT – cockney/various 60 MARTHA CRATCHIT – cockney – 16 FREDERICK’S HOUSEMAID – cockney – 30 VARIOUS NARRATORS, CAROL SINGERS, DEBTORS, SPIRITS, SKATERS, ETC.
ACTOR FOUR (F) HERMIONE BENTHAM – standard – 35 GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST – standard – 40 CONSTANCE – standard – 30 MRS CRATCHIT – cockney – 40 MOTHER – standard – 40 VARIOUS NARRATORS, CAROL SINGERS, DEBTORS, SPIRITS, SKATERS, ETC.
ACTOR FIVE (M) FREDERICK – standard – 35 MR GRIMES – Northern English – 60 MR FEZZIWIG – Irish – 50 GEORGE – standard – 30 KATE CRATCHIT – cockney – 10 ABIGAIL CRATCHIT – cockney – 10 GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME – standard – 50–150 PASSER–BY – cockney – 20 VARIOUS NARRATORS, CAROL SINGERS, DEBTORS, SPIRITS, SKATERS, ETC.
PUPPETEER ONE (F) LITTLE SCROOGE, TINY TIM, VARIOUS CHILDREN, SPIRITS, PHANTOMS, URSULA CRATCHIT ETC.
PUPPETEER TWO (M) LITTLE SCROOGE, TINY TIM, VARIOUS CHILDREN, SPIRITS, PHANTOMS, PETER CRATCHIT ETC.
This play is written for five actors and two puppeteers. Three men and two women. One actor plays Scrooge throughout. Everybody else plays everybody else.
"...A true gift of a Christmas show." — LondonTheatre.co.uk
"Warm and familiar." — The Stage
ON BREAKING CHARACTER
10 Festive Plays to Read This Season by Maria Arroja Ferreira November 19, 2019
Besides his version of Lew Wallace’s Ben Hur, Patrick Barlow’s Olivier-nominated adaptation of A Christmas Carol has played off-Broadway and London’s West End while his 4-person adaptation of The 39 Steps has played in over forty countries worldwide, winning Olivier, Helpmann ...