Study Guide 2018-2019

A Christmas Carol
Adapted by Jim Helsinger,
from the story by Charles Dickens

Florida Standards

Language Arts Theater

LAFS.910.RL.1: Key Ideas and Details TH.912.F.2: Careers in and related to the arts
LAFS.910.RH.1: Key Ideas and Details TH.68.S.1: The arts are inherently experiential.
LAFS.1112.SL.1: Comprehension and Collaboration TH.68.S.3: Artists learn to master techniques.
LAFS.1112.RL.1: Key Ideas and Details

PG Mildly frightening content

Most appropriate for Grade 6 and up.

 A Chrismas Carol
Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Enjoying Live Theater

Theater is a Team Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Actor/Audience Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

About the Play

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Meet the Characters in the Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Meet the Characters in the Play . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Meet the Author and the Playwright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Activities

Page to Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Write a Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Discussion and Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2
 A CHrismas Carol
Introduction

Educators:

Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to bring the joy of theatre arts to your
classroom. We are well aware of the demands on your time and it is our goal to offer you
supplemental information to compliment your curriculum with ease and expediency.

We are excited to announce we have a new workshop for middle and high school students!
Fostering Collaboration in the Classroom is an interactive workshop that leads students through
the fundamentals of collaboration. Using theater games, students explore how the use of eye
contact, listening, working together and supporting one another informs everyday interactions.

Please take a moment to explore our website at orlandoshakes.org/education for the following
ways to add to your curriculum.

• “On your feet “ activities to energize students

• Shortened Shakespeare scripts that range from 60 – 120 minutes long that are perfect for
school productions
• Study Guide Spotlights for quick reference to the standards addressed in each production

We look forward to hosting you at the Lowndes Shakespeare Theater. Additionally, should you
wish to bring our Actor/Educators into your classroom, we will work around your schedule. Feel
free to contact us at Orlando Shakes should you have any questions or suggestions on how we
can better serve you. We are always learning from you.

Thank you for your tremendous work in nurturing our audiences of tomorrow.

Anne Hering
Director of Education

Brandon Yagel
Education Coordinator

3
 A Chrismas Carol
Enjoying Live Theater

Theater is a Team Sport

The Playwright writes the script. Sometimes it is from an original idea and
sometimes it is adapted from a book or story. The Playwright decides what the
characters say, and gives the Designers guidelines on how the play should look.

The Director creates the vision for the production and works closely with the
actors, costume, set and lighting designers to make sure everyone tells the same Sound Designer -
Britt Sanducky
story. Photo: Rob Jones

The Actors use their bodies and voices to bring the author’s words and the
director’s ideas to life on the stage.

The Designers imagine and create the lights, scenery, props,

costumes and sound that will compliment and complete the
director’s vision.

The Stage Manager assists the director during rehearsals by

recording their instructions and making sure the actors and
Stage Manager -
Stacey Renee designers understand these ideas. The Stage Manager then
Norwood
Photo: Rob Jones
runs the show during each performance by calling cues for lights
Costume Designer -
and sound, as well as entrances and exits. Denise Warner
Photo: Rob Jones

The Shop and Stage Crew builds the set, props and costumes according to the
designer’s plans. The Stage Crew sets the stage with props and furniture, assists the actors with
costume changes and operates sound, lighting and stage machinery during each performance.

The Front of House Staff welcomes you to the theater, takes your
tickets, helps you find your seat and answers any question you may
have on the day of performance.

The Theater is where it all takes place. Orlando Shakespeare

Theater In Partnership with UCF is the only professional, classical
theater company in Central Florida, reaching students and
Creative Team of The Merry Wives of audiences in the surrounding eight counties.
Windsor
Photo: Rob Jones

Mission:
To enrich our community with engaging professional theater, inspiring educational experiences,
and thought-provoking new plays.

4 TH.912.F.2: Careers in and related to the arts

 A Christmas Carol
Enjoying Live Theater

The Actor/Audience Relationship

The Audience is the reason Live Theater exists. At

Orlando Shakes, we cherish the Actor/Audience
relationship, the unique give and take that exists
during a performance which makes the audience an
ACTIVE participant in the event. The actors see the
audience just as the audience sees the actors, and
every, laugh, sniffle, chuckle and gasp the audience
makes effects the way the actor plays his next
moment. We want you to be engaged, and to live the Photo: Rob Jones

story with us!

There are certain Conventions of the Theatrical Event, like, when the lights go down you
know that the show is about to start, and that the audience isn’t encouraged to come and
go during a performance. Here are some other tips to help you and your classmates be top
notch audience members:

• Please make sure to turn off your cell phones. And NO TEXTING!
• Please stay in your seat. Use the restroom before you take your seat and stay in your
seat unless there is an emergency.
• Please do not eat or drink in the theater.

Talkback
After the performance, the actors will stay on stage for about 10 minutes to hear your comments
and answer any questions you have about the play and the production. We’d love to hear what you
felt about the play, what things were clear or unclear to you, and hear your opinions about what the
play means. This last portion of the Actor/Audience Relationship is so important to help us better
serve you and enrich your artistic experience.

Consider the Themes and Key Questions above and ask yourself:

1. What Key Questions did the play answer?

2. Do you agree with everything the play said about these themes?
3. How did the actors, directors, and designers all address these themes?
4. What opinion did the artists bring to the process, did those opinion change throughout the
process (designing, rehearsing, performing) and how did that impact their work?

5 TH.68.S.1: The arts are inherently experiential.

 A Christmas Carol
About the Story
Summary
A mean-spirited, miserly old man with a brightly glowing head. The businessmen discussing the dead
named Ebenezer Scrooge sits in spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey man's riches, some vagabonds
his counting-house on a frigid into the past to previous trading his personal effects for
Christmas Eve. His clerk, Bob Christmases from the cash, and a poor couple
Cratchit, shivers in the anteroom curmudgeon's earlier years. expressing relief at the death of
because Scrooge refuses to spend Invisible to those he watches, their unforgiving creditor. Scrooge,
money on heating coals for a fire. Scrooge revisits his childhood anxious to learn the lesson of his
Scrooge's nephew, Fred, pays his school days, his apprenticeship latest visitor, begs to know the
uncle a visit and invites him to his with a jolly merchant named name of the dead man. After
annual Christmas party. Two portly Fezziwig, and his engagement pleading with the ghost, Scrooge
gentlemen also drop by and ask to Belle, a woman who leaves finds himself in a churchyard, the
Scrooge for a contribution to their Scrooge because his lust for spirit pointing to a grave. Scrooge
charity. Scrooge reacts to the money eclipses his ability to love looks at the headstone and is
holiday visitors with bitterness and another. Scrooge, deeply moved, shocked to read his own name. He
venom, spitting out an angry "Bah! sheds tears of regret before the desperately implores the spirit to
Humbug!" in response to his phantom returns him to his bed. a l te r h i s f a te , p r o m i s i n g t o
nephew's "Merry Christmas!" renounce his insensitive,
The Ghost of Christmas Present, a avaricious ways and to honor
majestic giant clad in a green fur Christmas with all his heart.
robe, takes Scrooge through W h o o s h ! H e s u d d e n l y fi n d s
London to unveil Christmas as it himself safely tucked in his bed.
will happen that year. Scrooge
watches the large, bustling
Cratchit family prepare a miniature
feast in its meager home. He
discovers Bob Cratchit's crippled
son, Tiny Tim, a courageous boy
Later that evening, after returning whose kindness and humility
to his dark, cold apartment, warms Scrooge's heart. The
Scrooge receives a chilling specter then zips Scrooge to his
visitation from the ghost of his nephew's to witness the Christmas Overwhelmed with joy by the
dead partner, Jacob Marley. party. Scrooge finds the jovial chance to redeem himself and
Marley, looking haggard and pallid, gathering delightful and pleads grateful that he has bee returned
relates his unfortunate story. As with the spirit to stay until the very to Christmas Day, Scrooge rushes
punishment for his greedy and end of the festivities. As the day out onto the street hoping to share
self-serving life his spirit has been passes, the spirit ages, becoming his newfound Christmas spirit. He
condemned to wander the Earth noticeably older. Toward the end of sends a giant Christmas turkey to
weighted down with heavy chains. the day, he shows Scrooge two the Cratchit house and attends
Marley hopes to save Scrooge starved children, Ignorance and Fred's party, to the stifled surprise
from sharing the same fate. Marley Want, living under his coat. He of the other guests. As the years
informs Scrooge that three spirits vanishes instantly as Scrooge go by, he holds true to his promise
will visit him during each of the notices a dark, hooded figure and honors Christmas with all his
next three nights. After the wraith coming toward him. heart: he treats Tiny Tim as if he
disappears, Scrooge collapses into were his own child, provides lavish
a deep sleep. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to gifts for the poor, and treats his
Come leads Scrooge through a fellow human beings with
He wakes moments before the sequence of mysterious scenes kindness, generosity, and warmth.
arrival of the Ghost of Christmas relating to an unnamed man's
Past, a strange childlike phantom recent death. Scrooge sees
6
LAFS.910.RL.1: Key Ideas and Details
 A Christmas Carol
Pre-Performance
About the Play
Meet
Meet thethe Major Characters
Characters of the Story
Ebenezer Scrooge - The miserly owner of a London counting-house, a nineteenth
century term for an accountant's office. The three spirits of Christmas visit the
stodgy bean-counter in hopes of reversing Scrooge's greedy, cold-hearted approach
to life.

Bob Cratchit - Scrooge's clerk, a kind, mild, and very poor man with a large family.
Though treated harshly by his boss, Cratchit remains a humble and dedicated
employee.

Tiny Tim - Bob Cratchit's young son, crippled from birth. Tiny Tim is a highly
sentimentalized character who Dickens uses to highlight the tribulations of
England's poor and to elicit sympathy from his middle and upper class readership.

Jacob Marley - In the living world, Ebenezer Scrooge's equally greedy partner.
Marley died seven years before the narrative opens. He appears to Scrooge as a
ghost condemned to wander the world bound in heavy chains. Marley hopes to
save his old partner from suffering a similar fate.

The Ghost of Christmas Past - The first spirit to visit Scrooge, a curiously childlike
apparition with a glowing head. He takes Scrooge on a tour of Christmases in his
past. The spirit uses a cap to dampen the light
emanating from his head.

The Ghost of Christmas Present - The second spirit

to visit Scrooge, a majestic giant clad in a green robe.
His lifespan is restricted to Christmas Day. He
escorts Scrooge on a tour of his contemporaries'
Holiday celebrations.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come - The third and

final spirit to visit Scrooge, a silent phantom clad in a
hooded black robe. He presents Scrooge with an
ominous view of his lonely death.

Fred - Scrooge's nephew, a genial man who loves

Christmas. He invites Scrooge to his Christmas party
each and every year, only to be refused by his
grumpy uncle.

Fezziwig - The jovial merchant with whom the young Scrooge apprenticed. Fezziwig was renowned for his wonderful
Christmas parties.

Belle - A beautiful woman who Scrooge loved deeply when he was a young man. Belle broke off their engagement after
Scrooge became consumed with greed and the lust for wealth. She later married another man.

Fan - Scrooge's sister; Fred's mother. In Scrooge's vision of Christmases past, he remembers Fan picking him up from
school and walking him home.

7 LAFS.910.RL.1: Key Ideas and Details!7

A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol
About the PlayA Christmas Carol About the Play
About the Play Meet the Characters of the Play
Meet the Characters of the Book
FATHER - A large older man who wants to tell a ghost story to his children. Jovial and fun
Meet the Characters of the
loving, but keeps bringing the family back to the point of the story, when they stray.
Portrays CHARITY COLLECTOR 1, FEZZIWIG, XMAS PRESENT, OLD JOE
MOTHER - Very much like one of her characters, Mrs. Fezziwig, she is bright, ebullient
and fun loving. Portrays CHARITY COLLECTOR # 2, MRS. FEZZIWIG, MRS. CRACHIT,
PARTY GUEST CHARWOMAN
BROTHER!- The unmarried brother of Father, he tries to assist Father and Mother with
the children. Can have his hopes dashed. Portrays BOB CRACHIT, MARLEY, FEZZIWIG
GUEST 1, TOPPER
SON - Like most of his characters, he has a cheery disposition. It is very hard to get him
down. Loves the words of the story. Portrays FRED, XMAS PAST, QUARRELER #2,
PETER
DAUGHTER - A bit more cynical of a story teller, she chides the others. A realist. Portrays
FEZZIWIG GUEST 2, BELLE, QUARRELER #1, MARTHA, FRED’S WIFE, LAUNDRESS
LITTLE SON - Very young. His first time hearing the Christmas story. Often the story is
being told to him, he participates when he can with enthusiasm. Portrays BOY SINGER,
TINY TIM, IGNORANCE, TURKEY BOY
LITTLE DAUGHTER - Full of hope, but also a bit sassy, a teenager.
Portrays FAN, FEZZIWIG GUEST 3, BELINDA, FRED’S GUEST, WANT, LAUNDRESS
GRANDFATHER - Hopefully we see him as only Scrooge and not a family member until
the end, when he joins the Christmas party as the fun loving paternal
Grandfather figure. Portrays SCROOGE
 A Christmas Carol
About the Play
Meet the Author of the Story
Charles Dickens is much loved for his great contribution to classic English
literature. He was the quintessential Victorian author. His epic stories, vivid
characters and exhaustive depiction of contemporary life are unforgettable.
His own story is one of rags to riches. He was born in Portsmouth on 7 February
1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. The good fortune of being sent to school at
the age of nine was short- lived because his father, inspiration for the character of
Mr Micawber in 'David Copperfield', was imprisoned for bad debt. The entire
family, apart from Charles, were sent to Marshalsea along with their patriarch.
Charles was sent to work in Warren's blacking factory and endured appalling
conditions as well as loneliness and despair. After three years he was returned to school, but the experience was never
forgotten and became fictionalzsed in two of his better- known novels 'David Copperfield' and 'Great Expectations'.
Like many others, he began his literary career as a journalist. His own father became a reporter and Charles began
with the journals 'The Mirror of Parliament' and 'The True Sun'. Then in 1833 he became parliamentary journalist for
The Morning Chronicle. With new contacts in the press he was able to publish a series of sketches under the
pseudonym 'Boz'. In April 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth, daughter of George Hogarth who edited 'Sketches by
Boz'. Within the same month came the publication of the highly successful 'Pickwick Papers', and from that point on
there was no looking back for Dickens.
As well as a huge list of novels he published autobiography, edited weekly periodicals including 'Household Words' and
'All Year Round', wrote travel books and administered charitable organizations. He was also a theatre enthusiast, wrote
plays and performed before Queen Victoria in 1851. His energy was inexhaustible and he spent much time abroad - for
example lecturing against slavery in the United States and touring Italy with companions Augustus Egg and Wilkie
Collins, a contemporary writer who inspired Dickens' final unfinished novel 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'.
He was estranged from his wife in 1858 after the birth of their ten children, but maintained relations with his mistress,
the actress Ellen Ternan. He died of a stroke in 1870. He is buried at Westminster Abbey.

Meet the Playwright

Jim Helsinger has directed many Orlando Shakespeare Theater productions including
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Titus Andronicus, The Merry Wives of
Windsor, Crime and Punishment, Every Christmas Story Ever Told, The Imaginary
Invalid, Tartuffe, The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, The
Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, The Compleat Works of Wllm
Shkspr (abridged), The Curate Shakespeare: As You Like It, and Hamlet.
Other directing credits include The Actor's Theatre of Louisville (A Tuna Christmas and
The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr, Abridged), Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
(The Mystery of Irma Vep, Sleuth, Imaginary Invalid, Charley's Aunt and The Compleat
Works of Wllm Shkspr, Abridged), Florida Studio Theatre (Good Evening) Cape May
Stage (The Big Bang, Stones in His Pockets, King Mackerel and the Blues are Running
and The Fourposter).
As a playwright, he is the author of Robinson Crusoe; A Christmas Carol in Five Parts; The Trial of Joan the
Maid; Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus; and Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harker. As an actor he has
appeared in the titles roles of Henry V, Cyrano De Bergerac, Oscar Wilde, Dracula, and Hamlet.
Jim is also a member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America (STAA), the National Theatre
Conference (NTC), Actor's Equity Association (AEA), the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG), and the American
Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA). He holds a BA from Miami University (Ohio), and an MFA
from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival/University of Alabama - Professional Actor Training Program.

9
 A Christmas Carol
Pre-Performance
About the Play
Research the Historical Context
Glossary

'Change - The Royal Exchange, London's Bob - Cockney slang for shilling, Cratchit
financial center earns 15 shillings a week
"Nuts" to - If something is "Nuts" to someone, it blood-horse - racehorse
gives them pleasure fetch the goose - The homes of the poor
counting-house - Business office were equipped with open fireplaces for heat
humbug - Nonsense and cooking but not with ovens. Thus many,
workhouses - Publicly supported institutions to like the Cratchits, took their Christmas goose
which the sick, destitute, aged, and otherwise or turkey to the baker's shop. Bakers were
impoverished went for food and shelter forbidden to open on Sunday's and holidays
half a crown - a British coin equal to 2-1/2 but would open their shops on these days to
shillings, or 30 pence the poor and bake their dinners for a small
next morning - Boxing Day, the day after fee.
Christmas, did not become a legal holiday in twopence - two pennies, pronounced
Britain until 1871 tuppence
great-coat - overcoat worn outdoors, often five and sixpence - five shillings and six
accompanied by a short cape worn over the pennies, or 5 and a half shillings shilling=12
shoulders pence
blindman's-buff - popular parlor game in which milliner - maker of women's hats: long hours,
the contestant is blindfolded and then must low pay
catch another player and then guess who he menagerie - collection of wild animals held in
had caught cages; a zoo
fancy - creative imagination charwoman - a cleaning woman, from the
gruel - cheap food made by boiling a small root for "chore"
amount of oatmeal in a large amount of water poulterer - butcher who deals in fowl, mainly
cravat - a fine scarf worn around the neck and chicken and turkey
tied in a bow Walk-ER - Cockney exclamation of disbelief
waistcoat - a vest
kerchief - the head of the dead was wrapped to http://charlesdickenspage.com/carol-
keep the mouth closed dickens_reading_text.html#change
apprenticed - bound by agreement to work for
another for a specific amount of time usually
seven years in return for instruction in a trade,
art or business
forfeits - group of popular parlor games in
which play goes round the room with each
player needing to supply an answer and is
penalized if an answer is not supplied

10 LAFS.910.RH.1: Key Ideas and Details

 A Christmas Carol
Pre-Performance
About the Play
Research the Historical
Historical ContextContext

The Poor
The Victorian answer to dealing with the poor and
indigent was the New Poor Law, enacted in 1834.
Previously it had been the burden of the parishes to
take care of the poor.
The new law required parishes to band together and
create regional workhouses where aid could be
applied for. The workhouse was little more than a
prison for the poor. Civil liberties were denied,
families were separated, and human dignity was
destroyed. The true poor often went to great lengths to
avoid this relief.
Dickens, because of the childhood trauma caused by
his father's imprisonment for debt and his
consignment to the blacking factory to help support
his family, was a true champion to the poor. He
repeatedly pointed out the atrocities of the system
through his novels.
Journalist Henry Mayhew chronicled the plight of the
London poor in articles originally written for the
Morning Chronicle and later collected in London
Labour and the London Poor (1851).
With the turn of the century and Queen Victoria's
death in 1901 the Victorian period came to a close.
Many of the ills of the 19th century were remedied
through education, technology and social reform... and
by the social consciousness raised by the immensely
popular novels of Dickens.
charlesdickenspage.com

Workhouse Article - House of Commons

Parliamentary Papers Online

11 LAFS.910.RH.1: Key Ideas and Details

 APre-Performance
Christmas Carol
Activities
Activities

Page to Stage
Bringing a story to life on stage is difficult. It sometimes means cutting out events, storylines and even
whole characters. Our playwright turned some of Dickens’ prose into narration for the actors,
interspersing it with lines spoken by the characters in the story.

Read this excerpt from the story. had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. But
Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular he put his hand upon the key he had
about the knocker on the door, except that it was very relinquished, turned it sturdily, walked in, and lighted
large. It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night his candle.
and morning, during his whole residence in that place; He did pause, with a moment's irresolution, before he
also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy shut the door; and he did look cautiously behind it first,
about him as any man in the city of London, even as if he half-expected to be terrified with the sight of
including -- which is a bold word -- the corporation, Marley's pigtail sticking out into the hall. But there was
aldermen, and livery. Let it also be borne in mind that nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and
Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, nuts that held the knocker on, so he said "Pooh, pooh!"
since his last mention of his seven years' dead partner and closed it with a bang.
that afternoon. And then let any man explain to me, if
he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key
in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its Now compare it with the same scene from the play:
undergoing any intermediate process of change -- not FATHER:" Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all
a knocker, but Marley's face. particular about the knocker on the door, except that it
Marley's face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the was very large.
other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light LITTLE DAUGHTER: It is also a fact, that Scrooge had
about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. It was not seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence
angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley in that place.
used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its
MOTHER: And it is also a fact that Scrooge had not
ghostly forehead. The hair was curiously stirred, as if
bestowed one thought on Marley for seven years. Then
by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide
explain to me how it happened that Scrooge saw in the
open, they were perfectly motionless. That, and its livid
knocker, not a knocker, but...
colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in
spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a BROTHER (MARLEY): Scrooge! GRANDFATHER:
part or its own expression. Marley's face!
As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a SON: To say that he was not startled, would be untrue.
knocker again. But he put his hand upon the key, turned it sturdily,
walked in, and lighted his candle.
To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was
not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it GRANDFATHER: Pooh, pooh!

1. What are some things the playwright did to turn the story into the play?
2. What details are included in the narrative that are not in the play Did the actors
convey those things in the way they acted the scene? How?
3. Dickens sets an ominous, scary tone in his writing. In the production you saw, what
did the director, actors and designers do to set the same tone? Did they succeed? If not,
why not?

12 LAFS.910.RL.1: Key Ideas and Details!12

 A Christmas Carol
Activities

Write a Review

Explain to students that the director’s job is to take the words on the script from the printed page to
the stage and bring them to life. Explain that theater critics review shows and publish their
opinions. For AmericanTheatreCritics.org, critic Sherry Eaker wrote, “My point of view was that it
wasn’t the theatre critic’s place to tell the playwright what he or she should be doing; instead, the
critic should focus on what is already there and explain either why it works or why is doesn’t
work.”
After seeing the production, have each student write a review of Orlando Shakes’ production. The
review should include one paragraph each for:
• Introduction – What did you watch, where and when, and maybe, why?
• The script – Did you like the writing, the story, the characters? Why or why not?
• The acting – Did you believe and care about the characters as portrayed? Why or why not?
• The design – Did you like the set, costume and light designs? Why or why not?
• The staging – How did the director stage the violence? Was it effective?
• The audience – What ways did the audience respond to particular moments?
• Conclusion – What will you remember about this performance?
If you wish, send your reviews to us at: anneh@orlandoshakes.org
We’d love to hear your opinions of our show!

Read more: How to Become a Theater Critic | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/

how_2079002_become-theater-critic.html#ixzz1v9tEyMnc

13 LAFS.1112.SL.1: Comprehension and Collaboration

TH.68.S.3: Artists learn to master techniques.
 A Christmas Carol
Discussion and Themes

Themes
Forgiveness - Who must Scrooge forgive in order to be transformed? Is it harder to forgive
someone else or ourselves?
Redemption - What are the steps of Scrooge's redemption? Is anyone besides Scrooge redeemed
in the story?
Social Change - Should we all take responsibility for social ills and poverty, or should it be
"every man for himself?"

Pick one of these Charles Dickens quotes

and explain whether or not it is true today:

"If there were no bad people, there

would be no good lawyers.”

"Consider nothing impossible, then

treat possibilities as probabilities."

“Charity begins at home, and

justice begins next door.”

Supplemental Resources & Bibliography

"The civility which money will http://www.charles-dickens.com
purchase, is rarely extended to those http://www.readbookonline.net
who have none." classiclit.about.com
www.dickensmuseum.com
www.dickens.port.ac.uk
www.telegraph.co.uk

14 LAFS.1112.RL.1: Key Ideas and Details