We did the first read for the play today. While during the reading we hadn't been cast yet in our roles. I read the characters Scrooge and the Narrator. After the reading, we divided into Production Groups. I am in the Lighting Team. We discussed ideas we had gotten for lights from the reading from what colours we should use for each section of play and also how we imagined certain scenes for when we start working on the lights. Once we were finished for the day, I was cast as Scrooge

For example, there is a exchange between Scrooge and Marley where Marley talks about how he travelled from the counting house to Scrooge's house (formally his home) for 7 years and Scrooge makes a remark about if he was travelling for 7 years he must have been slow. At first I wasn't sure how to approach this exchange from just the script however the novella offered insight to the tone Scrooge has when talking to Marley in this scene which has helped me to gain a better understanding of the scene.

The physical descriptions of Scrooge in the novella, especially how he moves and his use of gestures has also been helpful in developing the character of Scrooge.

The first one I watched was A Muppets Christmas Carol. While I found it to be a charming take on the story, I found it to ultimately be unhelpful as while it retains the same story beats from the original and some lines are borrowed from the novella, overall it's very different from the original story. This is likely because it's the Muppets.

I then watched the 3 part BBC/FX adaptation from 2019. I found this to be helpful because it showed me what to avoid in my performance due it completely missing the point of the original story and being an overly edgy take that made changes for the sake of being “dark” rather than being good. I decided to take note of everything Guy Pierce (who plays Scrooge in it) did that I didn’t like and have made notes on how I can avoid doing that in order to try and not replicate that piece of garbage.

I then watched the 2009 adaptation directed by Robert Zemicks starring Jim Carrey. While I found certain sections (The Ghost of Christmas Future section) to be useless, I ended up finding this one to be the most useful out of all 3 adaptations I watched today as it stays mostly faithful to the original story. I found the scenes with the Ghost of Christmas Past proved to be most useful as it showed me a different approach to those scenes, taking a much more gentle and melancholy tone for most of the lines.

ACTOR NAME: Ewan McPhee

Age: Scrooge is a elderly man, in his mid to late 60’s. He is depicted as being jaded in his later years because of the hardships of his life, which have turned him into a nasty and bitter old man who frowns at any expression of joy as he secretly laments on a life that has passed him by. His decades of being a man purely driven by profit has made his outlook on life cruel and unforgiving.

Physical Characteristics:

Voice:  In the original novella, Scrooges voice is described as being “grating”;

“and spoke out shrewdly, in his grating voice”

He is very direct and to the point with what he says at the start of the story, not wanting to waste words or time when he speaks and is as blunt and direct as possible when making his point. He has a deep and raspy voice which can go from a disapproving whisper to a bellowing shout at a moment’s notice when he feels it appropriate. His tone at the start is consistently aggressive or fed up as he views almost everyone around him at the start as being unworthy of his time. However, at the end of the play, his voice changes to be much lighter in tone. His voice becomes lighter in pitch, and he becomes less raspy as he becomes a much more generous man.

Posture: Scrooges posture is horrible. Years and years of doing nothing but sitting behind his counting desk and his age have made it so he has a constant outward arch to his back. His shoulders are always very tense and going inwards towards his chest . This gives him a very rigid and uncomfortable stance. But throughout the story, as he remembers more of his past and starts to see the benefits of allowing himself to be happy, his posture starts to change. His shoulders relax more and he starts to stand more upright as he regains some of his youthful energy he lost.

Walk: Scrooge has a very deliberate walk. He takes long, powerful strides with little bounce as he wants to appear imposing to those around him. However, due to his age, his walk has slowed down so he now walks as if he is calculating the efficiency of each step he takes. He also has a slight limp on his left leg due to a bad knee, so he relies on a cane in order to be able to go at the pace of his younger self. At the end of play however, he walks like a man half his age. He is very light on his feet and bouncing around the stage. He has a lot more bounce in his step and energy, it’s closer to a skip than walking in some moments.

Distinguishing Marks: Scrooge is described in the novella as having sharp, unpleasant features, greatly exasperated by the cold air during the time of the story;

“The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thins lips blue” pg.3

He has very distinct features, his nose is very sharp and pointy. His lips are thin and frostbitten, and his eyes are sunken and red. All of this shows that Scrooge has not taken care of himself in later years, leading to a deterioration in his physical appearance.

Physical Description: Scrooge is described as being a tall and thin man. His appearance shows his neglect towards his own personal health as he is nothing but skin and bone. His fingers are long and thin and blue. He is described as being very pale, looking almost sickly from lack of sunlight. It also can be interpreted that scrooge does not often shave as the novella points out towards the end;

“Shaving was not a easy task, for his hand continued to shake very much; and shaving requires attention, even when you don’t dance while you are at it”

Occupation: Scrooge is money lender. He owns a business and a counting house where he gives loans to people with tight deadlines and high interest rates. He is described as being ruthless in his trading’s with someone remarking after his death in the novella;

“it would be bad fortune indeed to find so merciless a creditor in his successor” pg.141

Religious Beliefs: Scrooge outwardly does not appear to practice any religion at the start of the story. His outward disgust towards Christmas, a Christian holiday, and his initial reluctance to believe in the ghosts could suggest that he does not firmly believe in Christianity or the idea of anything beyond death.  At the end of the novella, once Scrooge has changed, there is mention of him going to church on Christmas Day before visiting Fred;

“He went to church, and walked about the streets,” pg.160

This shows that after the events if the story, Scrooge finds his faith again, potentially showing that at one point he was of Christian faith. What is unclear is what denomination Scrooge subscribes to, but using the time period as reference, it can be assumed that in the original novella, he is of the Anglicanism denomination. For this adaptation, which is set in Aberdeen at a similar time, he can be assumed to part of the presbyterian denomination.

Political Beliefs: Scrooge’s beliefs during the first half of the story would be labelled today as very conservative. Scrooges’ behaviors exhibit the beliefs of conservatism on human nature that we are naturally selfish and cruel and only through strict law and order we can be function as a proper society.  Scrooge only thinks of himself and fails to empathize with anyone else and their plights in life.  He believes in the idea that people who live in poverty do so because of their own shortcomings and failures, rather than external factors such as upbringing and access to education. His upbringing, spending most of his youth at boarding school, away from the troubles of poverty has greatly narrowed his view of the world.

The way he treats Bob Cratchit also expresses his views towards the working class. He treats Bob with indignity and shows him no respect. He willingly lets him freeze and berates him for wanting to spend Christmas with his family. Scrooge and his treatment of Bob reflects the environment in which the novella was written as there was a great social divide between the working and upper class because of the exploitation of workers at the time, most of whom worked in poor conditions and for little pay.

All of this indicates that Scrooge holds very traditional conservative beliefs and likely would have been a supporter of the party during the time the novella was written. What’s important to note is that the end of the story, when his attitudes and beliefs change, it correlates with the real life rise of One Nation Conservatism, which carries a lot of the traditional beliefs of Conservatism but is the idea that those who are wealthy and of higher social classes should use their wealth in order to benefit those of lower social classes and less wealthy than themselves. While there would not be a One Nation Conversative government until nearly 30 years later in 1874 when Benjamin Disraeli became Prime Minister, his novel, Coningsby was published the year after Christmas Carol in 1844.

Scrooges’ political beliefs, as implied from the text, reflect the social climate of the time and can be seen as a precursor to what would eventually be the ideologies adopted by future governments, born out of the social climate in which the story was written and takes place in.

Other Beliefs: Scrooge is shown to be a man firm in his beliefs. He believes that money is be all end all to measure a man’s success and that greatly influences not only his view on his own life and how he should spend his time but also how he views those around him. He believes that every person should be able to stand on their own and not rely on others. He doesn’t support the idea of charity and is disgusted at the idea of it. His belief which is at the forefront of most of the story is that Christmas, or any holiday/celebration, are a waste of time and distracts people from they should truly be doing. This changes at the end where Scrooge decides to use his wealth to help others and to celebrate Christmas and try and keep that kind and forgiving attitude all year round.

Word Count: 1483

Where is he from: In the original novella, Scrooge is from somewhere outside of Aberdeen. I decided that it would make the most sense for it to be that he is originally from Peterhead for two reasons. The first is that I am from Peterhead and the second is that it is a another logical reason why Scrooge grows up to be so miserable.

Word Count: 200

ACTOR NAME: Ewan McPhee

What does the Character Lead with:

Because of Scrooge has terrible posture, he leads with his head, craning it around and walking forward with it. He lifts his head up and points his chin out. His head turns are very slow and deliberate, trying to conserve his energy as much as possible so that he can keep his mind sharp when dealing with the cutthroat business world he finds himself in.

What type of animal is the character most like?

Scrooge is closest to rat. He often flairs his teeth in a rat like way when he is showing displeasure at something (which is often) but also in the way he lives. Despite his wealth, Scrooge lives a very uncomfortable life. He has no purpose outside of his work and his only goal outside of profit is to survive. Rats are also known for their ability to survive in harsh conditions, which Scrooge lives under in order to save money. In the way people view him, those who do not need to deal with him, avoid him and are disgusted by him.

What are some items or images associated with the character:

Coins: Scrooge is a man purely driven by wealth. It is what drives him throughout most of his life. The image of money and how the pursuit of it can corrupt and distort people and their views of what matters in this world is something that comes to mind when thinking of the character of Scrooge.

Ledger boxes: Metallic ledger boxes also come to mind when thinking of Scrooge. The symbol of them correlates with his progression throughout the play. At first, Scrooge is shut off to any human sympathy, just like a ledger box, locked up tight. Then, throughout the play the ledger box is opened and we can see inside, just as we see how Scrooge became the way he was. By the end, he has fully opened himself up to the world around him and is ready to let people in, willing to share with wealth from the opened ledger box.

Pine Trees: Scrooge in a lot of way shares similarities to a pine tree. He is prickly and tries his best to keep people away from him. However, after the events of the story, he becomes a much happier and jollier man around Christmas time. This is just like how Pine Trees are often used for Christmas trees during this season. The symbolism of Pine Trees and Christmas can also be seen as showing what Scrooge is associated with most. At first, he has a distain for the season is his most prominent part of his character.

Word Count: 451

One of the biggest differences between me and Scrooge are our ages. I’m currently 20 while Scrooge is in his 60’s. This was a challenge for me during the initial rehearsal phases as I had to completely reconsider my physicality in order to understand how to properly portray a older person. Another difference between us is in his view of the world initially. Scrooge views anyone who is financially worse off than himself as pathetic and beneath him whereas I try to extend empathy towards those who have grown up less fortunate than me. While I have had so far a very privileged life, I understand that I shouldn’t look down on those who are less better off and instead try to understand their situation and value them as a person rather than judge them purely off their wealth.

How is the character similar to you?

I find in a few ways; me and Scrooge can share a common hatred in Christmas. I want to preface this by saying that I do like Christmas however, I’ve worked in retail the last 3 years of my life and Christmas is by far the time of year I dread most.  I think that this has helped me to understand Scrooge more because I can understand his hatred for the season by relating it to my own bad experiences with the season (although I doubt Scrooge dislikes it because he is also sick to death of hearing Mariah Careys screeching voice 10 times a day)

What is your characters relationship to others in the play?

Fred: Fred is Scrooges only surviving relative and is everything that he isn’t. Scrooge looks down upon Fred for his festive cheer and want to help others and views that as a weakness. He tries not to humour him during the festive season. I think this is because in a lot of ways, Fred is a constant reminder of his deceased sister as the two are both kind and caring people. Fred is also everything Scrooge isn’t. He is happily married and has a plethora of close friends whereas Scrooge has no one and that makes him miserable. However, at the end of the play, he finally respects Fred and thanks him for his patience with him in trying to get him to celebrate Christmas.

Bob Cratchit: Scrooge sees Bob initially as a necessity more than a person. He over works and underpays him and sees him as nothing more than a extension to his business. He does his best to dehumanize Bob and he doesn’t sympathize with him at all. However, after realising that the way he treats him does have a effect on him, he decides to try and forge a better relationship with him and sees Bob as the son he never had and treats his family like his own.

Jacob Marley: Marley and Scrooge are both very close to each other in that when Marley was alive, they were both ruthless and cutthroat businessmen. Scrooge had a great deal of respect for Marley and his passing clearly did affect him, despite the fact he tried to hide from the world. Him not taking Marleys name off the business could be seen as him trying to keep the memory of him alive. When he sees Marley again, he acknowledges that the two of them were good friends and that he admired Marleys business tactics. After the visit, he praises Marley and thanks him for bringing about the change in his life, ensuring that he will never forget Marley as long as he lives.

Super Objective:

Scrooges’ initial objective is to try and accrue as much wealth as possible in order to avoid poverty. The idea of being impoverished terrifies Scrooge so he takes advantage of those in less fortunate positions in order to try and keep as much of his money as he possibly can.

Objectives:

To try and keep human contact at a minimum and his wealth at the maximum,

Try and understand the lessons the ghost want to impart to him in order to avoid the fate of Jacob Marley

To try and be the best man he can possibly be and keep the spirit of Christmas alive throughout the whole year and the rest of his life.

Super Objective:

Scrooge wants try and understand why he has become the man he was and what he can do to avoid dying without leaving a positive impact on the world. The ghosts show him what his past actions did to those around him and himself, what his current actions are doing to those around him and what the ultimate consequences of his actions will be. Through this lesson, he learns that he does effect those around them and he wants to do better to benefit others than just himself.

Obstacles

Scrooges own self hatred is his biggest obstacle in the play. Scrooge hates nothing more than himself. He clearly is unsatisfied with the way his life has turned out and he takes that anger out on everyone around. He initially believes that it is too late for him to change, and that refusal and self-hatred leads to him misunderstanding what the spirits are trying to teach him.

Scrooges’ life as businessman has made him develop a mistrust of people. Because his later years have been completely engulfed by his business and has had to develop a weariness towards people in order to navigate his life. But since business is all, he has, it has affected every other aspect of his life.

Tactics:

Scrooge has developed a cold and uncaring approach to dealing with people. He sees them as ways in order to increase his wealth. Dehumanisation is his greatest tactic, and it allows him to navigate through his life, being able to say what he wants to people and dealing with them in ways he deems most convenient in order to conduct his business.

By the end, his greatest tactic is overwhelming positivity and warmth, spreading the joy he now feels to be alive to others and making their lives better.

Word Count: 1003

The story has endured for centuries as its timeless message has become more and more relevant as time has gone on. The story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeon businessman who sees the error of his ways through aethereal intervention and becomes a kind and caring man, has been retold and reworked countless times and has become the most iconic Christmas story of all time for its endearing characters and compelling themes.

One of themes that the story explores is the idea of Redemption. Scrooge, despite being the protagonist of the story, is written to be disliked by the reader. He is cold, uncaring and harsh towards everyone around him. He is detestable but over the course of the story, he is forced to confront the effects of his actions on others. He sees how his unkind nature has negatively impacted everyone. His employee Bob Cratchit can barely afford to provide for his family because of his tight-fisted nature and his refusal to respect Bob negatively impacts his home life. He sees that his nephew Fred, who he looked down upon and deemed pathetic for his outwardly happy and jolly nature, actually pities him and just wants to make assumingly his only surviving relative happy. He sees that his pursuit of wealth, forgoing caring what the impact is for others, will only lead to tragedy for himself and others. After receiving a worrying vision of the future where one of Bob’s children will die without his help, he resolves to change his ways. He becomes a much kinder and generous person, and we see that because of this, he is able to change the world around him for the better. Scrooge shows us that is it never too late to change and that we too can also strive to be kinder and leave a positive impact on those around us.

Another theme that the story explores is regret and the impact that can have on us. Scrooge is a character who deeply regrets the way his life has turned out. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge how is drive for wealth isolated and separate him from his fiancé Belle. Scrooge in his past, before his desire for wealth consumed him was happy. He had friends and family who cared for him, but he pushed them away in order to increase the money he carried in his pocket. Jacob Marley shows Scrooge how a life full of regret can lead to unhappiness. In the afterlife, he is forced into incessant torture because of the way he lived his life, just how Scrooge is chained by the regret of his own past. Scrooge learns by the end of the story not to wallow in his past regrets and try to live his current life free from the shackles of the past.

One of the issues that the story explores is class inequality. Scrooge represents the upper class. He looks down upon those who are worse off then him and offers them no help to improve their situation. Bob Cratchit and his family show us the inequality between Scrooge and the lower class. While Scrooge lives in a massive and desolate house by himself, Bob and his family live in a run down and crampet house and struggle to get by.  The story takes time to highlight this and show the unfairness of this inequality. Bob and his family are kind and caring people, but they are punished by life purely because of their financial situation, while Scrooge, who is by most accounts a horrible person, gets to live a somewhat comfortable life. This shows the inequality of the classes in Britian not only at the time but today as this is an issue that prevails even today.

The class inequality and the harshness of how unkind it is to lower income families was greatly influenced by the time period in which the original story was written. The story was written in a period known as the Hungry Forties. A time were famine spread over Europe because of poor crop yields and an increase in tax on grain exports to other countries. This greatly impacted the living standards of the lower class during this time and was an influence on the portrayal of the working-class characters in the story.

One of the most interesting things about the story is Dickens writing style. The novella has a conversational tone which gives the story a much more human touch. Dickens writes as if we the readers are sat in front of him, and he is orally telling us the story (which was actually very common for writers to do at the time as Dickens performed the story over 150 times during his lifetime) This gives the story a personal touch and allows the reader to connect with the characters and story more.

The main message of the story is about kindness. While the story can be interrupted as being about keeping the Christmas spirit, it is really about being kind to one another. We live in a world where often kindness is seen as weakness, something which the main character Scrooge, firmly believes at the start of the story. However, Scrooge is shown that kindness isn’t something to supress but rather, something that should be extended to everyone. At the end, he vows to keep the spirit of Christmas all year round, which is Dickens way of saying that we should not just be kind at Christmas, but all the time. He shows us that we should strive to be better to each other and extend a handout to those who need it.

To conclude, A Christmas Carol explores themes of Redemption and Regret and explores class inequality in a tumultuous time in British history to show us that we need to be kinder to each other. We should strive to keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts all year round to make the world we live a better place not just for ourselves, but for the betterment of everyone.

Word Count: 1092