A Christmas Carol - The Kansas City Repertory Theatre

PLOT SYNOPSIS
Act I
On Christmas Eve the streets of London are bustling with revelry as people are making last minute
purchases and rushing home to celebrate the holiday. But, for Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy
businessman noted for his miserly ways, it is business as usual. He is occupied with reconciling his
accounts and complaining about having his pocket picked every December 25th. He is keeping an eye on
Bob Cratchit, his office clerk who wants to add another piece of coal to the fire, but instead warms his
half‐frozen fingers on the flame of a solitary candle. Into this grim setting comes Scrooge’s nephew,
Fred, who invites his uncle to Christmas dinner the next day. “Bah! Humbug!” scolds Scrooge, who
admonishes Fred to “keep Christmas in your own way…and let me keep it in mine.” A man and woman
seeking Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s former
business partner who died on
Christmas Eve seven years earlier,
arrive at Scrooge’s office. They are
soliciting donations to help the
destitute, unaware of Scrooge’s
heartless contempt for the poor and of
his willingness to “decrease the surplus
population” by letting the poor suffer
prison or death. Holiday demands on
Scrooge’s time and money leave him
feeling even more miserly than usual
toward Bob Cratchit, who doesn’t want
to work on Christmas Day, preferring to 2008: Jim Gall (Ghost of Christmas Present) photo by Don Ipcock
celebrate the holiday at home with his
family. Begrudgingly, Scrooge gives him the day off, but he demands Cratchit arrive at the office even
earlier than usual the day after Christmas. Scrooge leaves his workplace and takes his evening meal
alone. Then, dodging carolers and shoppers, he makes his way home. The holiday mood of the streets
disappears as Scrooge approaches the dark, forbidding entrance to his house. For a moment, Scrooge
thinks he sees Marley’s haunting face in his doorknocker. Inside, Scrooge secures his home for the night
and, while preparing for bed, reflects on his life, appreciating the cold, which keeps his heart from
overheating, the dark, which is cheap, and the solitude, which makes him self‐reliant. “No one can do
me injury,” says Scrooge. Suddenly, with a clanking of chains, the ghost of Jacob Marley appears wearing
heavy shackles forged from the equipment of his former profession—keys, padlocks, cashboxes, coins,
ledgers, and purses. Scrooge refuses to believe what is before his eyes, blaming the apparition on
indigestion. “I wear the chains I forged in life,” reveals Marley, explaining that he is paying a heavy price
for having turned his back on charity, mercy, and benevolence. He warns Scrooge that three more spirits
will visit him, and, “without their visits you cannot hope to shun the path I tread.” Marley disappears,
A Christmas Carol: Learning Guide Page 5