A Christmas Carol is a tale of redemption. It is considered to be Charles Dickens’ most celebrated work. It was first published December 19, 1843 and sold out by Christmas Eve. It has never been out of print. This stage adaptation by Julietta Corti is unabashedly faithful to the novel.

 

Our protagonist is, “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner…secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.” And though every one knows him as “Scrooge,” Dickens foreshadows the possibility of his redemption when a Ghost from his past speaks his name, “Ebenezer.” A name which means, “Stone of Help.”

 

We see Ebenezer’s journey through his past, when he was hopeful and generous. We witness the consequences of how others see him in the present, and finally what the accumulation of riches at the expense of others has rendered him. 

 

Dickens invites us to contemplate our own life’s trajectories and perhaps redraft our own eulogies while there is still a chance and a hope to make those changes. Historians credit A Christmas Carol with establishing our contemporary traditions of celebrating Christmas. Going to church, gathering with family, giving gifts in a spirit of generosity, and feasting. At Christmastime may we join our voices in singing the song of love’s redemptive power.

 

“God bless us, everyone!”