Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: "A Christmas Carol" which adaptation?

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SpenceKenzer
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Joined: 1/23/09
Location: Canada
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Topic: "A Christmas Carol" which adaptation?
Posted: 6/02/10 at 4:22pm

My CT wants to produce "A Christmas Carol" this year.

CRITERIA:
- Full-length, not one-act,
- 1 intermission but not more than 2 intermissions,
- simple flexible set (the less the better)
- not sure if we want to go with a few actors and lots of doubling, or a large cast of many small roles.
- a NON-musical (however having music in the show, such as carolers, is fine)
- our CT is mostly adults, with only a few teens, and children from time to time as needed.

I've researched Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service, Dramatic Publishing, Playscripts Inc., and Playwrights' Guild of Canada, and I have found no less than 23 different versions available that seem to meet my criteria list above.

Any recommendations on which adaptation to choose, or NOT to choose?

--------------------<*>
Saludos, my dahlinks, and you know who you are ... !

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PSdotcom
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Joined: 3/04/10
Location: United Kingdom
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Posts: 15

Posted: 6/03/10 at 4:03am

Hello

Did a quick scan of our database and found these potentials for you to check out. Online previews are available for both.

A Christmas Carol by Reg Mitchell
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol by Nick Moore

Best of luck with your search.

Production Scripts Marketplace for Theatre and Radio Scripts. Submit your script today!
http://www.productionscripts.com

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Melvin
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Posts: 36

Posted: 6/03/10 at 4:08pm

A Christmas Carol has been done to death, but if you want to do it, why not make it a bit original? Have a creative member of your group take the plot and add some original bits from your local area. If you want, I'll send you my free version (and no, I'm not pimping my show!) which only lasts 40 minutes and you can add original materials and songs and bits to fit your area. Dickens (and your long-suffering audiences) would applaud your efforts to make his work more relevant. Anyway, no play publishers know your audiences as well as you do.

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tristanrobin
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Posted: 6/10/10 at 11:26am

I loved the adaptation by Israel Horowitz.
http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1372

http://tristanrobin.blogspot.com

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pdavis69
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Joined: 3/26/06
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Posted: 6/11/10 at 7:57am

Dickens' Christmas Carol a Travelling Travesty in Two Tumultous Acts

by Mark Landon Smith

From the author of Faith County and Faith County II comes the funniest Christmas Carol ever. The Styckes-Upon-Thump Repertory Company embarks on their fifteenth annual tour of the Dickens classic. When the company's diva feigns illness, certain the production will be canceled, this merry troupe of over the hill and upstart actors carry on without her. Roles are shuffled and the sweet understudy suddenly finds herself on stage knowing only one line of dialogue. She has written her part in and on almost everything, including the Christmas pudding! Midway through the doomed performance, the diva rushes in to reclaim her role. Total mayhem ensues as the company scrambles to keep the show going while everything goes hilariously wrong.

(Family friendly!)

Edited by pdavis69 - 6/11/10 at 7:58am

Patrick L. Davis
Fort Findlay Playhouse

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SpenceKenzer
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Joined: 1/23/09
Location: Canada
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Posts: 71

Posted: 7/30/10 at 6:50pm

Whew! I've read almost all of the 23 versions I said were available.
(And every time I turn around, it seems some other theater company has done yet another adaptation by an author whose name I've never heard before; I'm ignoring those.)

95% of the adaptations are the basic story we all know and love in some form. Variations include:
-- narrator (an individual, sometimes Charles Dickens, or multiple cast members) or no narration.
-- add or subtract one of Dickens' lines here and there.
-- embroider in whole new lines and/or scenes and/or characters
It's very hard to easily distinguish between all these similar versions.

The ones that stick out from the pack are the ones that are somehow uniquely different from "just the basic story".

What's worse is... (*guilty hard swallow*) I think I've actually started to write my own adaptation...

Why? I was annoyed at the "edits" the adapters made to the original Dickens text, and I haven't found any one adaptation that has my ideal balance of such edits.

Wish me luck!

--------------------<*>
Saludos, my dahlinks, and you know who you are ... !

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peacfrog50
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Joined: 8/28/08
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Posts: 8

Posted: 8/12/10 at 3:03pm

I have been wanting to direct this show forever!! but or group is so small we could never cast it, so i found a really funny version called "A Christmas Carol...More or Less" it has a cast of 2, we are putting it in November. We got it from Playscripts, Inc

http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=280

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Author	Message
SpenceKenzer Star Joined: 1/23/09 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 71	Topic: "A Christmas Carol" which adaptation? Posted: 6/02/10 at 4:22pm
	My CT wants to produce "A Christmas Carol" this year. CRITERIA: - Full-length, not one-act, - 1 intermission but not more than 2 intermissions, - simple flexible set (the less the better) - not sure if we want to go with a few actors and lots of doubling, or a large cast of many small roles. - a NON-musical (however having music in the show, such as carolers, is fine) - our CT is mostly adults, with only a few teens, and children from time to time as needed. I've researched Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service, Dramatic Publishing, Playscripts Inc., and Playwrights' Guild of Canada, and I have found no less than 23 different versions available that seem to meet my criteria list above. Any recommendations on which adaptation to choose, or NOT to choose?
	--------------------<*> Saludos, my dahlinks, and you know who you are ... !

	IP Logged

PSdotcom Player Joined: 3/04/10 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 15	Posted: 6/03/10 at 4:03am
	Hello Did a quick scan of our database and found these potentials for you to check out. Online previews are available for both. A Christmas Carol by Reg Mitchell Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol by Nick Moore Best of luck with your search.
	Production Scripts Marketplace for Theatre and Radio Scripts. Submit your script today! http://www.productionscripts.com
	IP Logged

Melvin Lead Joined: 4/02/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 36	Posted: 6/03/10 at 4:08pm
	A Christmas Carol has been done to death, but if you want to do it, why not make it a bit original? Have a creative member of your group take the plot and add some original bits from your local area. If you want, I'll send you my free version (and no, I'm not pimping my show!) which only lasts 40 minutes and you can add original materials and songs and bits to fit your area. Dickens (and your long-suffering audiences) would applaud your efforts to make his work more relevant. Anyway, no play publishers know your audiences as well as you do.
	IP Logged

tristanrobin Celebrity Joined: 4/25/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 704	Posted: 6/10/10 at 11:26am
	I loved the adaptation by Israel Horowitz. http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1372
	http://tristanrobin.blogspot.com
	IP Logged

pdavis69 Celebrity Joined: 3/26/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 437	Posted: 6/11/10 at 7:57am
	Dickens' Christmas Carol a Travelling Travesty in Two Tumultous Acts by Mark Landon Smith From the author of Faith County and Faith County II comes the funniest Christmas Carol ever. The Styckes-Upon-Thump Repertory Company embarks on their fifteenth annual tour of the Dickens classic. When the company's diva feigns illness, certain the production will be canceled, this merry troupe of over the hill and upstart actors carry on without her. Roles are shuffled and the sweet understudy suddenly finds herself on stage knowing only one line of dialogue. She has written her part in and on almost everything, including the Christmas pudding! Midway through the doomed performance, the diva rushes in to reclaim her role. Total mayhem ensues as the company scrambles to keep the show going while everything goes hilariously wrong. (Family friendly!) Edited by pdavis69 - 6/11/10 at 7:58am
	Patrick L. Davis Fort Findlay Playhouse
	IP Logged

SpenceKenzer Star Joined: 1/23/09 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 71	Posted: 7/30/10 at 6:50pm
	Whew! I've read almost all of the 23 versions I said were available. (And every time I turn around, it seems some other theater company has done yet another adaptation by an author whose name I've never heard before; I'm ignoring those.) 95% of the adaptations are the basic story we all know and love in some form. Variations include: -- narrator (an individual, sometimes Charles Dickens, or multiple cast members) or no narration. -- add or subtract one of Dickens' lines here and there. -- embroider in whole new lines and/or scenes and/or characters It's very hard to easily distinguish between all these similar versions. The ones that stick out from the pack are the ones that are somehow uniquely different from "just the basic story". What's worse is... (guilty hard swallow) I think I've actually started to write my own adaptation... Why? I was annoyed at the "edits" the adapters made to the original Dickens text, and I haven't found any one adaptation that has my ideal balance of such edits. Wish me luck!
	--------------------<*> Saludos, my dahlinks, and you know who you are ... !
	IP Logged

peacfrog50 Walk-On Joined: 8/28/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 8	Posted: 8/12/10 at 3:03pm
	I have been wanting to direct this show forever!! but or group is so small we could never cast it, so i found a really funny version called "A Christmas Carol...More or Less" it has a cast of 2, we are putting it in November. We got it from Playscripts, Inc http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=280
	IP Logged

Topic: "A Christmas Carol" which adaptation?( Topic Closed)