AChristmasCarol
PLAY GUIDE
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 Performance
Students 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 Kwanzaa
n Fun Christmas Carol facts from the novel to the stage
n Worksheets 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 2
n AH-2.3.1: Students will analyze how time, place and ideas are reflected in
drama/theatre DOK 2
n AH-3.3.1: Students will explain how drama fulfills a variety of purposes DOK 2
n 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 [email protected]
Study Guide compiled by Megan Alexander, Gwen Arbaugh, and JoSelle Vanderhooft.
Actors Education
Steven Rahe, Education Director
Jacob Stoebel, Education Coordinator
Lee Look, New Voices Coordinator
Stowe Nelson, Education Intern
Julie Mercurio, Education Intern
Jeffery Mosser, Education Intern
Fund for the Arts
Members Agency
Charles 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 Cast
Ebenezer Scrooge
Bob Cratchit
Jacob Marley
Ghost of Christmas Past
Ghost of Christmas Present
Ghost of Christmas Future
Fezziwig
Tiny Tim
Illustration from A Christmas Carol
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
Early Portrait of Charles Dickens
The Story
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 happiest years of his life. It was at this time that
the young boy first witnessed the power of theatre, 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 literature. 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 situation 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 factory. 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; compared 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 boring 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 reflection, Dickens called this the “usefullest” time of his life as he spent days advancing 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 bootblacking factory to his childhood imitations
and character sketches, everything contributed
to create the brilliant writer whose Carol continues to lift our spirits each holiday season.
Activity
1. 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.
VOCABULARY
Early British Industrialization
Boot-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 others 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 industrial, populated, city.
Theory of Evolution:
a scientific theory of the origin of species of plants, animals, and humans
developed by Charles Darwin.
Eclectic:
made up of or the combining of elements from a variety of places, time
periods, and styles.
House:
the part of a theatre where the audience sits.
Pantomime:
a dramatic or choreographed performance that tells a story through movement of the performer’s body and/or
face.
Menorah:
a special candelabra with nine lights
that is used in Jewish worship.
Victorian illustration of London Streets
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 textile 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 revolutionizing the production
of steam, water, and electric
power sources to keep the factories 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.
Rendering:
a sketch or color drawing.
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.
Victorian Times and Traditions
The Victorian Era was named after Queen
Victoria, who ruled Great Britain from 18371901. 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 function, 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 introduced “Theory of Evolution.” Literature and
the arts exploded with a style that embraced
the many social problems
of the day and examined 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 bonbons,” 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 fortunate citizens of England during the holiday season. 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 understanding of industry, set up
reforms in labor, encouraged
equality for all people, developed innovative art, a n d
reestablished
the
central
traditions of
Christmas that
we still value
and enjoy today.
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.
Further Reading
Holiday Symbols and Customs 3rd Ed.
ed. by Sue Ellen Thompson
The Lives and Times of Ebenezer Scrooge
By Paul Davis
The Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore
The Annotated Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens with Introduction by Michael Patrick
Hearn
Kwanzaa
by A.P. Porter
The Hanukkah Book
by Marilyn Burns
Dickens of London
By Wolf Mankowitz
www.victorianaonline.com
www.the-north-pole.com
Celebrating the Season
People 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.
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?
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is a spiritual celebration of the interconnected 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 reconnect to an African heritage, not only for him, but
for all African-Americans. Kwanzaa, in Swahili
means, “first fruits of the harvest.” Harvest festivals 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 foundation, 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 movement. Specifically, red symbolizes the struggle
of the African-American experience, green symbolizes 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 relating 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
Illustration of the celebration of Kwanzaa
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.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah, 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 menorah. 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.
The menorah
Activity
Make your own dreidel. Follow the steps below using a pencil and a piece of paper. Sing along as you play.
The Hanukkah Book. Burns, Marilyn ®1981
Christmas
Christmas, 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 transformed 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, delivering 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 greeting cards, and await the night Santa Claus climbs
down their chimney to bring them their gifts.
Illustration from The Night Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not 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;
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 traditions that are different from your own? Are there any similarities? Do they have a Santa Claus character? 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.
Backstage Tour:
the technical side of A Christmas Carol
An Interview with resident Set Designer, Paul Owen
Megan: 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 problems 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 technicians. 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.
Costume Renderings
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.
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.
A Christmas Carol
FACT SHEET
DID 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 clothing
After 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…
Ray Fry
England: Father Christmas
France: 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 Kings
Russia: In some parts, Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure), in others
Grandfather Frost.
Scandinavia: a variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse.
Writing Portfolio
Note for teachers: All Writing Portfolio prompts have been
designed to correspond with Kentucky Department of Education
Core Content for Writing Assessment.
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?
actors theatre of louisville n 316 West Main Street n Louisville, KY 40202-4218
Box office 502-584-1205 n Group Sales 502-585-1210 n Business Office 502-584-1265
ActorsTheatre.org