First Baptist Kids and Teens Present “A Christian Christmas Carol”

Since its publication in 1843, Charles Dickens’ classic novella A Christmas Carol has become one of the most recognizable Christmas tales, and has been retold countless times, from the Muppets to a ballet. This year, the children and teens of First Baptist Church in Two Har­bors presented playwright Brian Alleyne’s adaptation, “A Christian Christmas Carol”, a one-hour pro­duction set in the present day, but generally following the original storyline.

The evening began with a 17-member children’s choir sing­ing a few classic Christmas carols. After they finished singing, scene one began with Scrooge (Joshua Maxwell) getting ready to reveal the holiday display at Marley’s Department Store on television. Just before the display is revealed, Scrooge receives a phone call and exits. When he comes back, he sees that the display has been revealed to be a religious one. Furious, he fires the television crew and demands that his nephew and store manag­er Mr. Worthington (Micah S.) tell him who was responsible for the re­ligious display. Worthington replies that it was Mr. Crachit (Will Swan­son), Scrooge’s long-time hard working employee. Scrooge con­fronts Crachit and almost fires him, but Worthington reminds Scrooge that it would be hard to replace Crachit, so Scrooge lets him off un­der the condition he work double the time during the holidays.

Scene two opens with Crachit and Worthington talking as both pre­pare to leave the store for the day. As they leave, they’re approached by Buddy Baker (Gavin Eide), a former acquaintance of Crachit’s. Baker reveals that his store burned down, and he lost everything, and now has no idea how he’ll get food for his family. Worthington scoffs at Baker, but feeling sorry for the man, Crachit gives him some mon­ey, much to Worthington’s aston­ishment. Worthington questions why Crachit would give Baker money, when Crachit himself is struggling to make ends meet, and Crachit tells him that the Bible says to “love your neighbor as yourself”. Worthington scoffs at this as well, claiming that money is all he needs.

Scene three has Scrooge at his desk, checking over some papers, when a ghostly voice calls his name. He’s horrified when his long-dead former boss, Marley (Finn Thur­nau) appears in ghostly form, warn­ing Scrooge of his stingy ways.

At midnight, the first ghost, the Ghost of Christmas Past (Addi Bar­rett) appears to a highly skeptical Scrooge, and brings him to witness his own past. Their first stop is when Young Scrooge (Landon Maxwell) was recently abandoned by his fa­ther, and subsequently made fun of by his classmates when his fami­ly went on welfare. Only one girl, Young Marie (Juliet W.) was kind. The Ghost then takes Scrooge for­ward to the 1970s, where the 1970s Scrooge (Eli S.) is hard at work at Marley’s on Christmas Eve. A co-worker, Rocket (Caleb S.), in­vites him to a party, but he refuses, saying he needs to keep working. Scrooge’s friend and love interest, Marie (Bella I.) then comes to the office, telling Scrooge that through his incessant working he’s cut out friends, family, and church from his life. Scrooge again repeats that he needs to keep working, Marie tells Scrooge that if he doesn’t have room for God in his heart, then he won’t have room for her, and she leaves him. The Ghost of Christ­mas Past then returns Scrooge to his present time and leaves.

At one o’clock, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Adah Thurnau) arrives, taking an annoyed Scrooge to go observe Crachit and his fami­ly. Despite the Crachit family lack­ing wealth, Crachit and Mrs. Crachit (Aria O.) seem happy, though Mrs. Crachit does have a few words to say about Scrooge making Crachit work overtime. Scrooge, observ­ing, can’t believe the Crachits could be truly happy, seeing as they aren’t wealthy, so the Ghost takes Scrooge to the home of the Worthingtons to see what that wealthy family looks like.

Mrs. Worthington (Savannah Swanson) is talking on the phone as Mr. Worthington arrives home. She virtually ignores her husband, and their kids come to the door only to take the gifts that Worthing­ton bought for them. Mr. and Mrs. Worthington then proceed to bick­er. Scrooge is returned to his office as the Ghost remarks that money cannot buy true happiness.

The Ghost of Christmas Fu­ture (Britta Dreier) arrives at two o’clock, and takes Scrooge to a fu­ture view of Marley’s Department Store, revealing that soon after Scrooge’s death and Worthington’s inheritance of the store, Worthing­ton goes bankrupt, and the store is condemned. In this future view, Buddy Baker is once again success­ful and helps Crachit get back on his feet. Baker even offers Worth­ington a job. Realizing his life’s work was for naught, Scrooge is distraught and finds an evangelistic tract in his pocket that Crachit once gave to him. Reading it now, for the first time, Scrooge realizes the true meaning of Christmas and resolves to make things right with Crachit. In the background, Addi Barrett helps set the stage with her solo piece “Sweet Little Jesus Boy”.

When first performed on De­cember 8, the play was met with a standing ovation. Adah Thurnau (Ghost of Christmas Present) said, “It was a great time getting to per­form with friends and see so many people come to watch.”

“I really enjoyed the play because it wasn’t boring,” Britta Dreier (Ghost of Christmas Future) said. “It was exciting, funny, and de­tailed.”

Shane Barrett (Tiny Tim) com­mented that “the cast was a fun group of kids, and Sara and Heidi [the directors] made it a ton of fun.”

“I had so much fun playing the Ghost of Christmas Past,” Addi Barrett added. “I really enjoy that she [the Ghost] helps us to keep in mind the true meaning of Christ­mas.”

Gavin Eide (Buddy Baker) en­joyed “getting to play a character that experienced failure and suc­cess”, and Will Swanson (Crachit) agreed that he enjoyed participat­ing. “The parts were well cast, and we all had a ton of fun working on it. The script is quite funny, but still tells the powerful message about the real meaning of Christmas.”

Due to popular demand, and the inclement weather that kept some from attending, “A Christian Christ­mas Carol” will be performed again on Tuesday, December 17th at 6:30 p.m. The performance is free, fam­ily-friendly, and open to the com­munity. It will be located at First Baptist Church in Two Harbors. Thank you to all, both on the stage and behind the scenes who came to­gether to create a Christmas event to remember!