AChristmasCarol

Fund for the ArtsMembers Agency

PLAY GUIDE

Actors Education Steven Rahe, Education DirectorJacob Stoebel, Education CoordinatorLee Look, New Voices CoordinatorStowe Nelson, Education Intern Julie Mercurio, Education InternJeffery Mosser, Education Intern

This play guide is a standards-based resource designed to enhance your theatre experience. Its goal is twofold: to nurture the teaching and learning of theatre arts and to encourage essential questions that lead to enduring understandings of the play’s meaning and relevance. Inside you will find:

Before the PerformanceStudents will be more engaged in the performance with an understanding of the play! A Christmas Carol articles include: n A historical background on Charles Dickens, the industrialization of England, and the Victorian Era n An overview of American holidays celebrated in the month of December including Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaan Fun Christmas Carol facts from the novel to the stagenWorksheets and activities to help your students make personal connections to their Actors’ experience

After the Performance:Our Christmas Carol study guide and matinee addresses specific Core Content:n AH-1.3.1: Students will identify the elements of drama DOK 2n AH-2.3.1: Students will analyze how time, place and ideas are reflected in drama/theatre DOK 2n AH-3.3.1: Students will explain how drama fulfills a variety of purposes DOK 2n SS-2.1.1: Students will describe cultural elements DOK 1-2

If you have any questions or suggestions for improvements in our study guides, please feel free to contact Steven Rahe, Director of Education at (502) 584-1265 or srahe@actorstheatre.org

Study Guide compiled by Megan Alexander, Gwen Arbaugh, and JoSelle Vanderhooft.

The fascinating events of Charles Dickens’ childhood helped to form the great writer of novels whose work we enjoy today. Charles was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1812. His father, John, was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office, while his mother, Elizabeth Barrow, cared for the children. Charles also had a nanny, Mary Weller, who sparked his budding imagination with scary stories featuring a character named “Captain Murder,” whose adventures left the young boy “lying in bed rigid with terror.” In 1817, the Dickens family moved to Chatham, where Charles spent five of the hap-piest years of his life. It was at this time that the young boy first witnessed the power of the-atre, thanks to his step-cousin, James Lambert, who later came to live with the family. Charles also loved to read and luckily discovered many cheap editions of great novels like Robinson Crusoe, which increased his appetite for litera-ture. During this fairly free period in his life, Charles developed a talent for composing funny songs and characterizations of the people and places he came across in his wanderings. Charles’ father was transferred to a London office in 1822. There, the boy struggled with many unpleasant differences in the family’s sit-uation as they found themselves crammed into a very small house in Camden Town. Their debts forced them to sell Charles’ treasured books. His sister, Fran, also left the family to pursue a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, depriving the sickly boy of his best friend. Although the unusually small Charles suffered from an ambiguous illness, his pleasant face, curly hair, and cheerful disposition hid the emotional pain and embarrassment inside. In an effort to help the family with their money trouble, his cousin, James, offered to secure Charles a job in a boot-blacking fac-tory. His parents accepted the offer; two days after Charles’ twelfth birthday, he began the most humiliating experience of his life. The other lads mockingly called him “the young gentleman,” and his afternoon school lessons soon ended. Charles said of the experience,

“No words can express the secret agony of my soul, as I sunk into this companionship; com-pared these everyday associates with those of my happier childhood; and felt my early hopes of growing up to be a learned and distinguished man, crushed in my breast.” After two weeks, his father was thrown in debtors’ prison and Charles returned home to sell unnecessary household items to pay the rent. Upon the death of his grandmother, however, his father received £450, enough for him to pay his way out of prison. This meant that Charles could finally attend school. The eager young man attended the Wellington House Academy, where intellectual and social doors opened to him for the next three years. Unfortunately, family finances soon forced Charles back to work, this time as an office boy in a law firm. Again, he found his work bor-ing and so turned his attention to acting and the object of his affection, a banker’s daughter named Maria. As an actor, he used his early gift for impersonation and combined it with written sketchers of the odd characters found in Victorian London. Charles also took acting lessons and visited the theatre often to improve his skills. The day before a very important professional audition, Charles became very sick and never rescheduled his appointment. Around the same time, however, he obtained a card for the Reading Room of the British Museum. Upon later ref lection, Dickens called this the “useful-lest” time of his life as he spent days advanc-ing his education on his own. Shortly after, both The Times and True Sun offered Charles reporter positions. Thus, he began his career as a writer. From his haunting experience in the boot-blacking factory to his childhood imitations and character sketches, everything contributed to create the brilliant writer whose Carol con-tinues to lift our spirits each holiday season.

Activity1. What do you want to be when you grow up? Why? Do you think your current circumstances, (i.e. the town where you are growing up, your family, your friends, etc.) influence your opinion? What are the steps you will need to take to get the job you want? What challenges might you face? Draw a picture of yourself as the person you want to be when you grow up. Write a paragraph describing what and who you want to be and why.

2. Go to the library to find a children’s book about Christmas, or another winter holiday. How does the author and illustrator of the book present the holiday through the text and images? From this, what do you think the author feels is important about that holiday? Why? What does the author say to make you think that? Summarize the book in one sentence describing what you think is the main theme. Share your sentence with the class.

the StoryCharles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a man who has lost the spirit of the holiday season. His lack of human kindness prompts a Christmas Eve visit from the ghost of his dead business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns Scrooge to change his ways or suffer his own chain-bound fate for eternity. To aid Scrooge in his journey of redemption, Marley sends three spirits who show Scrooge the mistakes of his past, the opportunity in the present, and the chilling promise of the future. Christmas Day, Scrooge wakes to embrace his second chance at life and to spread the holiday spirit to everyone he meets.

the cAStEbenezer ScroogeBob CratchitJacob MarleyGhost of Christmas PastGhost of Christmas PresentGhost of Christmas FutureFezziwigTiny Tim

DiScuSSion 1. Scrooge goes through a huge transformation throughout the course of A Christmas Carol. How does he change along the way? Describe Scrooge at the beginning of the play. Describe Scrooge at the end of the play. Do you see any moments in between that lead him to this transformation?

2. What does Scrooge learn from the Ghost of Christmas Past? Present? Future? What does each spirit show Scrooge? Why do you think Charles Dickens used spirits to guide Scrooge instead of real people?

3. Have you seen any other versions of A Christmas Carol? Was it a book, a movie, a play, or something else? How was it different from this production? How was it the same?

4. If you could make your own version of A Christmas Carol, where would you set it? In what time period? Who would your characters be? Would they represent a particular culture? How would that change your version of the play?

LittLe chArLie DickenS

Illustration from A Christmas Carol

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Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol during the Industrial Revolution, a period marked by a rapid development of industry, that took place in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and that relied upon the invention of new and improved machinery. It began and thrived in Britain for many reasons. British people were hardworking and creative, they had good roads and transportation to transfer products from one place to another, and being on an island, they were far away from the battlefields of mainland Europe. But most importantly, their leaders were dedicated to pursuing ways of improving the county’s financial and social status in the world. Look at the shirt you are wearing. Where do you think it came from? Before the Industrial Revolution, you would need ten people to spin enough yarn for one weaver to make the fabric for your shirt. In 1769, two new inventions solved the problem: the spinning jenny and

the water-powered frame, both of which sped up the process of producing yarn. By 1800, Edmund Cartwright invented the power loom, a machine that could make the weaving process even faster. Within two generations, what had once been done at home by hand became an industry. After 1815, handlooms disappeared entirely and new cloth-making machines replaced them. The steps in increasing tex-tile production were repeated in other goods as well. Metals like iron and steel were being produced in new ways. Also, the sources of power to produce these items changed. Creative people were hard at work revo-lutionizing the production of steam, water, and electric power sources to keep the fac-tories functioning. The new developments encouraged urbanization and by 1850, more than half of the population lived in cities and worked in industry. In other

words, many people accustomed to living off the land, such as farmer and sheep herders, were forced to move to the city and work in factories where similar products were produced at a much lower cost. Britain was becoming the richest country in the world. However with this great wealth came a widening in the gap between social classes. The rich became richer, and the hardworking poor became poorer. Children as young as five were commonly put to work to help support their families, often in very dangerous factory jobs. London itself held the greatest concentration of wealth in the world, but this only included nine families. The rest of London’s population was not quite as fortunate, forced to work long hard hours for very little pay. At the time that Dickens was writing A Christmas Carol, new laws were just beginning to be passed to protect workers and make factories safer.

vocABuLAryBoot-blacking factory: a factory where Charles Dickens worked labeling pots of blacking that would later be used to polish shoes.

Carol: a popular song of joy and mirth; an old round dance with singing. It was used in the title of A Christmas Carol because Charles Dickens created a story that was structured like a song, which means that parts seemed like a chorus and oth-ers were verses.

Debtors’ prison: a place where people were sent as punishment for not repaying the debts they owed.

£: symbol for the Pound, the currency of Great Britain.

Urbanization: the process of becoming urbanized. The transformation into a more indus-trial, populated, city.

Theory of Evolution: a scientific theory of the origin of spe-cies of plants, animals, and humans developed by Charles Darwin.

Eclectic: made up of or the combining of ele-ments from a variety of places, time periods, and styles.

House: the part of a theatre where the audi-ence sits.

Pantomime: a dramatic or choreographed perfor-mance that tells a story through move-ment of the performer’s body and/or face.

Menorah: a special candelabra with nine lights that is used in Jewish worship.

Rendering: a sketch or color drawing.

eArLy BritiSh inDuStriALizAtion

Victorian illustration of London Streets

the StArS were pArticuLArLy Bright thAt night, AnD the LAughter, unABLe to keep within the confineS of the houSeS,

crept BeneAth the Door jAmBS AnD echoeD in the StreetS.

AnD ABout everything there hung An Air of expectAtion.

Activity

Around the time that Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, people were just starting to get excited about the holiday season. Just like us, they gathered with their loved ones and feasted. They also entertained themselves by singing carols, dancing, and playing games like these:

Yes and No – Just like in A Christmas Carol, this game is a guessing game. One person thinks of a person, place, or thing, and others have to ask questions. The questions can only be answered with a “yes” or a “no.” Whoever guesses correctly thinks up the next thing to be guessed.

Throwing the Smile – Players sit in a circle. One player smiles for 5 seconds, wipes it off his or her face, and throws it to someone else in the circle. He or she must catch the smile, put on, wear it, and wipe if off to throw to someone else. If a player smiles out of turn, he or she is out. Players that are out try to make the other players smile.

victoriAn timeS AnD trADitionSThe Victorian Era was named after Queen Victoria, who ruled Great Britain from 1837-1901. Since she reigned for so many years during a time when ideas were rapidly changing, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what the period was like. It can best be described as eclectic, a term that came into being during this time. The people of the Victorian years embraced new ideas about how a country should func-tion, including establishing rights for women, the working class, and equality for everyone. Scientific growth and technological advances had room to develop with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and Charles Darwin’s newly intro-duced “Theory of Evolution.” Literature and the arts exploded with a style that embraced the many social problems of the day and exam-ined how art would affect an audience and the public. Writers like Alfred Lord

Tennyson and Charles Dickens wrote about the social evils of poverty and injustice, moving many to work on reforming society. Change, however, was not always so easily accepted. The years from 1832-1848, reflected rapid growth that excited many, but made others very uncomfortable. Industry was expanding, cities were getting crowded, and a large number of people were out of work and starving. By the 1850s and 1860s, the situation was a little better. The government established labor laws to care for its workers and reduced taxes on food to help fight hunger. The controversy in these years shifted from social and economic problems to religious ones as a new group called the Utilitarians revolted against the need for religion. The response to this revolutionary idea was a call for a return to conservative views of religion, contributing to the modern notion that Victorians were very proper and dull. A general return to tradition in the face of so many innovations resulted in the renewal of Christmas celebrations as well. Victorians are credited with bringing back Christmas as we know it. The official introduction of the Christmas tree to England came in 1841, and the first Christmas card is believed to have been produced there in 1843- the same year that Dickens published A Christmas Carol. The Victorian theatre revived its holiday spirit by staging pantomimes and plays, and hosting parties and feasts at home. Queen

Victoria, herself, recommended that the Christmas season should be spent at home with family and friends. Victorians would often have huge feasts including a roasted turkey or

goose, sweet bread, and figgy pudding among other lesser-known dishes like quail with truffles and rice croquettes. After dinner they would sing carols around the piano in the parlor or tell ghost stories by the fire. Sometimes, fireworks burned and children pulled “exploding bon-bons,” or Christmas crackers, for fun. Christmas was also a time for giving. Queen Victoria and the popular British magazine, Punch, encouraged the rich to help the less fortu-nate citizens of England during the holiday sea-son. Part of the power of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol comes from his moving representation of poverty and the evils of greed, contrasting how one person can make a difference by simply opening his or her heart and pocketbook to help others. The Victorian era of Great Britain left many presents to generations that came after. It opened the doors to the modern under-standing of industry, set up reforms in labor, encouraged equality for all people, devel-oped innovative art, a n d r e e s t a b l i s he d the central traditions of Christmas that we still value and enjoy today.

further reADing

Holiday Symbols and Customs 3rd Ed.ed. by Sue Ellen Thompson

The Night Before Christmasby Clement C. Moore

Kwanzaaby A.P. Porter

The Hanukkah Bookby Marilyn Burns

The Lives and Times of Ebenezer ScroogeBy Paul Davis

The Annotated Christmas CarolBy Charles Dickens with Introduction by Michael Patrick Hearn

Dickens of LondonBy Wolf Mankowitz

www.victorianaonline.comwww.the-north-pole.com

ceLeBrAting the SeASonPeople all over the world hold celebrations in December in addition to the Christian holiday of Christmas, the spirit of which inspired Charles Dickens to write A Christmas Carol. Christmas celebrates the birth of the promised Messiah in Bethlehem, but like many other winter celebrations, it is linked with the Winter Solstice, the day in which daylight is the shortest, and marks the beginning of longer days to come. Cultures all over the world have based their own celebrations and holidays on the Winter Solstice. Read below to find out more about the three most popular winter holidays celebrated in America.

kwAnzAAKwanzaa is a spiritual celebration of the intercon-nected nature of all life and claims no ties with a particular religion. It is an African-American celebration of cultural affirmation started nearly 40 years ago by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a UCLA professor from Nigeria. Following the 1965 L.A. riots, Dr Karenga sought to find a way to recon-nect to an African heritage, not only for him, but for all African-Americans. Kwanzaa, in Swahili means, “first fruits of the harvest.” Harvest fes-tivals are very common in Africa, when thanks is given for the harvest and plans are set for the coming year. In America, Kwanzaa is celebrated for seven days, between December 26th and January 1st. It is symbolized by a mat which serves as a foun-dation, upon which a unity cup, candle holder, corn, and gifts are set out. Honor is given to ancestors and family members who have passed away through the pouring of libations from the unity cup. Placed in the candle holder are three red candles, three green candles, and one black candle. These colors together show the colors of the national flag as designed by Marcus Garvey, father of the Black Nationalist move-ment. Specifically, red symbolizes the struggle of the African-American experience, green sym-bolizes its hope, and black symbolizes the face of African Americans. Seven is a very important number in the African tradition. In Kwanzaa it stands for the Seven Principles. These include Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. One Principle is focused on during each day of Kwanzaa. Gifts relat-ing to that principle are given, and children are asked to reflect on it, examining ways the Principle affects their lives. Kwanzaa celebrates, in a very positive way, the differences of the African-American experience and culture, and the unity of its people.

Activity

The Winter Solstice this year falls on December 21st. Starting today, write down the time that sun rises and the time it sets. Keep a journal of your findings until the first of the new year. Did you notice how the days are shorter before the Solstice and get longer after its passing? Discuss your findings with the class. By how much did the days decrease or increase? Why does this happen? How does the length of the days affect your life?

Activity

What is your cultural background? Where did your ancestors come from? What is something special about your culture or ethnicity that you are proud of? Learn more about your ancestors and culture by talking to your relatives. As a special holiday gift, make them a family tree.

Illustration of the celebration of Kwanzaa

hAnukkAhHanukkah, the Festival of Lights, originated when Judah, the Maccabee, reclaimed the sacred temple following a three year war against the Syrian-Greek king, Antiochus. The temple was then cleansed and rededicated by lighting the menorah. There was only enough oil for one day, but somehow the flames lasted for eight straight days. To remember this magical time, Jews light a candle from the Menorah, or hanukkiyyah, on each of the eight days of the festival. This year Hanukkah will begin at sundown on December 21st. Throughout the eight days of the festival, families make and share fried potato pancakes called latkes. Children receive gifts or money and play games with a dreidel, a toy very similar to a spinning top. On each of the dreidel’s four sides is a Jewish letter. When placed together these letters mean, “A great miracle happened there,” referring to the oil in the temple meno-rah. To play, each player spins the top and collects points based on the letter the dreidel lands on. Hanukkah is a time for Jewish families and friends to come together to celebrate the survival of Judaism, Jewish independence, religious freedom, and the importance of family and friends.

Activity

Make your own dreidel. Follow the steps below using a pencil and a piece of paper. Sing along as you play.

The menorah

The Hanukkah Book. Burns, Marilyn ®1981

chriStmASChristmas, the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ, has grown to be one of the most widely known and commercialized holidays in the world. However, it did not begin as such. The exact date of Jesus’ birth is unknown. January 6th was chosen in Rome in the 4th century as a way to replace the pagan holidays of Saturnalia and Brumalia, (the birthday of the Unconquered Sun). This January 6th date was based on the Julian calendar, which was later replaced by the Roman Catholic Gregorian calendar in 1582, dropping 11 days from the original. This moved the celebration of Christmas to its current date, December 25th. England and Scotland refused the new calendar system for over 200 years, continuing to celebrate the holiday in January. Christmas is still celebrated as “Old Christmas Day” in these countries. Greece and some other Eastern European countries have never accepted the Gregorian calendar and continue to hold their traditional celebrations on January 6th. Christmas in America is recognized by the colors red and green. Angels, bells, candy canes, evergreen trees, reindeer, wreaths, poinsettias, mistletoe, Yule logs, and Santa Claus also define the season. Religiously it is connected to the celebrations of Advent and the Epiphany, thus giving us the twelve days of Christmas. The Christmas image we know and love today has a lot to do with Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol, as well as a poem by Clement Moore. Moore wrote this poem for his friends and family with no intent to publish it. Without his knowing the poem was published and became hugely popular. Originally titled, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” the poem became famous as “The Night Before Christmas.” Moore’s poem trans-formed the skinny saintly image of St. Nicolas to the jolly old elf with a “broad face and a little round belly.” It ingrained the image of Santa and his reindeer flying to each and every house, deliv-ering toys and gifts to good little children. Christmas is a time of good cheer, kindness, family, and spirit. To celebrate, Americans hang stockings, decorate Christmas trees, send greet-ing cards, and await the night Santa Claus climbs down their chimney to bring them their gifts.

Activity

Did you know our traditional Christmas tree has its roots in Germany? Or that in France, Christmas is called Noel? In Britain, a Christmas fairy adorns the top of every Christmas tree. How do other countries celebrate Christmas?

Go to the library and research the internet to find out how countries around the world celebrate Christmas. Choose one country to focus on. What do they call Christmas? Do they have unique tradi-tions that are different from your own? Are there any similarities? Do they have a Santa Claus charac-ter? What does he look like? Find as many facts and images of your country’s Christmas celebration as you can, then make a collage so your class can learn about it too.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the houseNot a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

Illustration from The Night Before Christmas

coStume renDeringS

Activity

Be A grAphic DeSigner! Create a poster or large ad for a production of A Christmas Carol. It must include the title of the play, the playwright and Charles Dickens’ name, the dates of the show(s), and address of the theatre (or your school). Then draw or paint an image that you think will draw in audiences to see the show. Remember, you are trying to express information with your poster so make it visible and fun.

BAckStAge tour: the technicAL SiDe of A chriStmAS cAroL

An interview with reSiDent Set DeSigner, pAuL owenMegan: Have you always wanted to be a set designer?Paul: Well, I started out as an actor and director. I then became a designer of sets, lights, and costumes. Once I discovered the theatre, I found that I really like it. I’ve stuck with it and feel it is a very important part of the community.

M: How many years have you worked with Actors Theatre?P: I’ve been here for 38 years.

M: Where did you work before you came here?P: I worked with the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX.

M: What do you think you would be if you weren’t a set designer?P: I have no idea. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

M: What exactly does a set designer do?P: A set designer creates the environment for plays based on the author’s intent and the director’s interpretation. He or she provides an environment that supports these two elements.

M: What are the steps you take to achieve this?P: It starts with reading the script and finding and solving the prob-lems first. I have to figure out how the play’s environment can fit into our actual space at Actors. The next step is determining the ground plan, or the “map,” for the course of activity in the environment. This step requires drafting. Then come the ideas of what it will look like physically in the space. This involves sketching in more detail and in color. Once I think I am on the right track, and have all the elements

of design, I make a ¼” scale model of the set. Using the model, I make construction drawings and hold conferences with the techni-cians. It is the job of the technicians to build, paint, and install the set. The final steps are to add lights, sound, and the actors.

M: I’ve seen a model of one of your sets. They are so detailed. How do you make those tiny little chairs?P: I’ve had a lot of years to practice, but it definitely takes skill and a lot of discipline to maintain everything in scale. I have rulers that are marked in various scales so that when I am drawing I can use them to help me measure. For every one foot in real life, it shows up as a ¼” on the model. The rulers help me to stay consistent from the model to the real life set.

M: How many years have you designed A Christmas Carol?P: It’s been running for 33 years, but I think I’ve only designed it five or six times. Each design runs for four to six seasons, and we have had a few guest designers over the years as well.

M: How do you keep the set new and exciting and keep the audience’s interest each year?P: I think most of the audience that comes to see A Christmas Carol is new each year, so not everyone sees the same set year after year. And sometimes when we do change the set, the people who are returning to see the show are disappointed because it’s not what they remembered from when they saw it as a child, for example. I think if people enjoy their first experience they want to bring their family and friends to share in that same experience.

puSS ‘n’ BootS ALi BABA roBinSon cruSoe chriStmAS preSent.Resident Costume Designer, Lorraine Venberg’s renderings for this year’s production of A Christmas Carol.

A chriStmAS cAroL fAct SheetDiD you know…?n Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was first published on December 19, 1843. Although intended to be a potboiler, the book was even more successful than expected, selling over 6,000 copies in its first week.

n The first production of A Christmas Carol was in 1976.

n Ray Fry was the first actor to play Scrooge.

n The debut of the Jon & Marcia Jory adaptation at Actors Theatre (the most popular version) was in 1989.

n Actors Theatre has produced A Christmas Carol 33 years in a row

n Over half a million people have attended a performance of A Christmas Carol here at Actors Theatre.

n There are 28 people in the 2008 Actors’ cast.

n The Cratchit family is based on Dickens’ childhood home life. He lived in poor circumstances in a “two up two down” four roomed house which he shared with his parents and five siblings.

n Dickens was involved in charities and social organizations throughout his life. At the time he wrote A Christmas Carol he was very concerned with impoverished children who turned to crime and delinquency in order to survive.

“thiS Boy iS ignorAnce. thiS girL iS wAnt.”

n Dickens, as well as others, thought that education could provide a better life for these children. The Ragged School movement put these ideas into action. The schools provided free education for children in the inner-city. The movement got its name from the way the children attending the school were dressed. They often wore tattered or ragged clothingAfter A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens wrote several other Christmas stories, one each year, but none was as successful as the original.

n America’s official national Christmas tree is located in King’s Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant sequoia called the “General Grant Tree,” is over 300 feet (90 meters) high. It was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.

n Known as Santa Claus in American, world-wide the name of this gift-giver varies…

England: Father ChristmasFrance: Père Noél (Father Christmas)Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus) Holland: St. Nicholas.Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch)Spain and South America: The Three KingsRussia: In some parts, Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure), in others Grandfather Frost.Scandinavia: a variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse.

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actors theatre of louisville n 316 West Main Street n Louisville, KY 40202-4218Box office 502-584-1205 n Group Sales 502-585-1210 n Business Office 502-584-1265

ActorsTheatre.org

1. LITERARY WRITING WR-E-1.3

The last of the three spirits in A Christmas Carol shows Scrooge scenes from the future. Write a play or scene that takes place in the future. How far in the future will you set your play? Do the characters in your play face new problems or have goals different from the goals many people have today? Do the characters talk or move differently from how people talk and move now?

ALSO: As you write stage directions, think about how setting your play in the future might affect the sets, lights, and costumes, etc.

stage directions • n. the words in the script that are not spoken by the actors; the words that provide clues or suggestions about how to stage the play.

2. TRANSACTIVE WRITING WR-E-1.4

Write a review of Actors Theatre’s A Christmas Carol.

Describe what it was like to watch the play, but do not write about only the story or plot of the play. Think about HOW the play tells its story. Make the experience of watching the play come alive for your reader by writing about several of the play’s many elements, including sets, lights, and costumes ,as well as how the actors performed their roles and how the director moved the actors around the stage. Were there some parts of A Christmas Carol you enjoyed more than other parts? If so, why?

Students can participate in our Young Critics program by submitting copies of reviews or essays written

in response to Prompt #2 (Transactive Writing) to Actors Education. For details on how to submit student

writing, or for general information on the variety of opportunities available through the Young Critics

program, please contact us at 502-584-1265 x3065.

3. PERSONAL WRITING WR-E-1.2

In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge’s encounters with the three spirits change his opinions about how he should treat fellow human beings. Write about someone who has changed your mind about how you should behave with other people. What did this person do or say to change your point of view? How has your thinking or behavior changed as a result?

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note for teachers: All writing portfolio prompts have been designed to correspond with kentucky Department of education core content for writing Assessment.