A Christmas Carol- The Story

Seven years before our story begins, a man called Ebeneezer Scrooge, is seen alone at the funeral of his business partner Jacob Marley. It is the death of Marley, which gives meaning to all of the events, which follow...

On Christmas Eve, in a street in the old city of London, shoppers hurry to buy last minute Christmas presents. Outside the counting house,
(an old age bank), where Ebeneezer Scrooge and the late Jacob Marley have made lots of money, carol singers arrive to collect money for the poor. Scrooge's worker, the friendly Bob Cratchit joins them but the appearance of miserable old Scrooge soon puts an end to the festivities.

Inside the counting house, Bob Cratchit is very unhappy that Scrooge is his master. Even the arrival of Scrooge's nephew and his wife does not make the miserable old man happy! At the end of the working day, Scrooge reluctantly gives Bob Cratchit permission to go home but Scrooge does not realise the strange experiences that are going to happen to him.

In the evening, while Scrooge is finishing his dinner alone, the ghost of Jacob Marley suddenly appears with a terrible warning. Scrooge will be made to live the life of a phantom unless he changes his selfish ways. Scrooge buries his head in his pillows, as he is very, very scared. Next, the Ghost of Christmas Past appears and takes Scrooge back to a Christmas of many years ago, to a party in the counting house. This is the same party where he met his first love, Belle. Belle told Scrooge that she would not marry him because she knew that he loved money more than her! Scrooge becomes very upset as he realises that he cannot undo the mistakes he made when he was younger. He can't bear it anymore and covers the light of the Ghost. Everything in Scrooge's room goes back to being dark.

However, this is not the end of his journey, as Scrooge is now comforted by the Ghost of Christmas Present who leads him to Bob Cratchit's house. Scrooge sees that Bob Crachit and his family are very poor but they are happy and pleased to be together. Scrooge is touched by the love of Bob Cratchit's family.Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit's son, sings a Christmas Song. The happy family move off with the Ghost of Christmas Present but Scrooge is unable to follow. He is left with the phantoms, which grow more powerful and scary.

This is not the end for Scrooge, as The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come leads Scrooge back to Bob Cratchit's home once again. This time, instead of seeing the Cratchit family happy, Scrooge finds them very upset as Tiny Tim has died. Finally, Scrooge sees the Angel of Death approaching him with a tombstone and realises, with horror, that it is his own! As he throws himself at the headstone it disappears and he finds himself back in his own bed on Christmas morning. Scrooge realises that there is still time to change his selfish ways and as he scrambles out of bed he states " I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future!"

Scrooge dresses frantically and sets off to prepare for an enormous Christmas feast for the whole town.Everybody is asked to bring the best food that money can buy for the feast and soon amazing food is assembled for the arrival of Scrooge's guests of honour - the Cratchit Family! As Scrooge welcomes them to his party the first flakes of snow begin to fall and the street becomes the scene of a wonderful celebration. Scrooge's journey is complete. The miserable old man has learnt to be happy, to not be selfish and to respect other people.

The End

With thanks to Northern Ballet Theatre for providing radacadabra with the story and photographs of A Christmas Carol. Click here to find out more information about Northern Ballet Theatre and A Christmas Carol

The story of this ballet is based on an original outline by Carl Davis and was developed jointly by Christopher Gable and Carl Davis.