Soja Kureekkattil

Mrs.Mainero
ALA

A Christmas Carol
Now Scrooge has one last chance to turn his life around, before it's too late(back
cover). The fantasy novel A christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is about a man named Ebenezer
Scrooge who is selfish and mean to everyone. After the death of his friend Marley, the two most
important things in his life are himself and his wealth. On Christmas Eve three spirits appear to
show Scrooge glimpses of his past, present, and future. Now Scrooge has one chance to change
himself before he ends up in chains like his old friend. Marley. My expectations for the
dialogue, scenes, and the special effects in the play A Christmas carol, and what actually
happened were similar and different in many ways.
First of all, my expectations for the life production of the play and what actually
happened were alike and different. My dramatization of the dialogue was similar and different to
the play. In stave one when Scrooge was entering his house I expected that the ghost of Marley
to scream Scrooges name as he appeared in front of Scrooge. Every room above , and every
cask in the wine merchants cellar above seemed to have a separate peal of echoes of its own
(15). In the play, this did occur starting from when Scrooge was sitting in his office counting his
money. I expected that the actor portraying Scrooge would have a grumpy tone when he talked
just like in the book. My initial visualization of Scrooge was met by the actor, and his tone was
effective in making this character seem very real. I also dramatized that the knocker on
Scrooge's door would scream Scrooges name as he entered his house. However in the play this
did not occur.

Next, some scenes that I dramatized were not included in the actual play. Before
watching the play, I dramatized that when Scrooge was entering his house he would see the
knocker on the door with Marley's face on it. I expected Scrooge to scream or even fall down in
shock of seeing Marleys face on the knocker. As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon,
it was a knocker again. To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a
terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue(14-15).
However in the play this scene was not included because Scrooges house was above his work.
Since there was no other door, Scrooge did not see a knocker in the play. Because Scrooges
house is above his work there was more space for the characters to stand. Therefore the director
used the space well.
Finally, the special effects that actually occurred in the play were similar and different
from my expectations. In stave one when Marley's ghost appears in front of Scrooge, I expected
the ghost to come from the side of the stage or come from the ceiling. The cellar door flew
open with a booming sound, and then he heard the noise much louder, on the floors below ; then
coming up the stairs ; then coming straight toward his door (18). However in the play, Marley's
ghost entered the stage as a cloud of smoke covered the whole place, and he entered through a
sliding floor board on the stage. I also dramatized Marley's ghost leaving the scene by flying up
and off the stage. I did not expect there to be a big flash as he opened the door and left the
stage. The different lighting techniques helped tell between day and night. The different
background colors helped predict the mood. For example when the color was a dark blue, i felt
like the mood was gloomy and cold outside. the changes in the lighting did affect the story
because if it was brighter than it would indicate it being morning. If it was darker then it would
represent being nighttime when Scrooge was being visited by the spirits. The music and the

sound effects during the live production were effective. For example the music could help the
viewer predict the mood. The sound effects could sometimes tell the weather. When Scrooges
nephew came to invite Scrooge to his Christmas slammed with a thud and you could hear the
wind howling outside.
In conclusion, my expectations play were similar and different to what actually happened
in the live production of A Christmas Carol. The actors tone when they spoke helped the viewer
really feel the character. Some scenes were different or deleted based on the different props or
the setting in the play. Finally the special effects impacted the mood of the play. Scrooge needs
to realize that the business of mankind is not his job or making money. Its charity, benevolence,
kindness and helping others. But will Scrooge realize this before its too late?