MAJESTICPIECE THEATRE PRESENTS: CHOOSE YOUR OWN CAROL
Directed by Brandi Douglas
Adapted by Rachel Kohler from the novella by Charles Dickens for the digital stage
To be performed Saturday, December 19 at 7:30pm on Facebook Live
Dress rehearsal Friday, December 18 at 7:00pm
Rehearsal Thursday, December 17 at 7:00pm
Rehearsal Thursday, December 10 at 7:00pm
Rehearsal Tuesday, December 8 at 7:00pm
Readthrough Tuesday, December 1 at 7:00pm
AUDITION VIDEO SUBMISSION DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH AT 5 PM
The Majestic Theatre (a division of the City of Corvallis Parks and Recreation department) is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to creating a safe place for actors of all backgrounds to explore their craft. We are particularly eager to work with artists of color and other artists from marginalized communities. All auditions are free and open to the public. This audition is for an amateur, volunteer production. The Majestic Theatre staff and volunteers do not discriminate on the basis of age, national origin, race, gender, ethnic background, disability, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation.
From the director:
A Christmas Carol is a holiday classic and I am very excited to direct this amazing adaptation written by Rachel Kohler. To add to the fun of this show, the audience will get to choose the ending. Please take part in this interactive adventure with us!
Synopsis:
Ebenezer Scrooge is the CEO of an incredibly successful web-based company, but that success comes at the price of the wellbeing of his employees, his community, and his soul. One faithful Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley. Can Marley and the Three Spirits of Christmas change Scrooge’s heart with their visions of Past, Present, and Future? Will the story end as tradition dictates, with the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge, the triumph of the spirit of Christmas, and a happy ending? Or will the spirit of Bah Humbug reign supreme after his night of visitations fails to change Scrooge’s heart, resulting in a tale of tragedy and revenge? The audience will decide!
Please choose ONE of the following sides. Record a video on your phone or computer of you reading the side, and email it to brandi.douglas1@gmail.com by 5PM on Wednesday, November 18th. Feel free to include what role you’re interested in within the body of the email. Some guidelines:
- Perform while seated, trying to frame yourself from the shoulders up. This is what you’ll look like in the video chat during the performance, so we’ll want to see how well you can emote in this limited space.
- Props and costume pieces are encouraged! Whatever you have lying around. Just keep in mind that we can only see your torso and head!
- Actors of any gender, age, race, or ability are invited to audition for any role. We will be casting 11-15 performers and 1-2 Emergency Backup Actors, understudies for all roles who can hop into the digital performance at any time to cover for another actor who might be experiencing technical difficulties.
- In order to participate in the performance, you’ll need a stable internet connection; a smartphone, computer, or tablet that can run Zoom; and a pair of headphones. The ghost roles in this play will use software-based special effects in a program called SnapCamera, which requires using a computer with Windows 10/Mac OS 10.13 or newer. A green screen would also be helpful, but not crucial. If you do not have access to this tech, this will not disqualify you from auditioning for these roles, but we’ll want to know so that we can line up checking out equipment to you.
- If you have any questions, feel free to email and ask!
CHARACTERS
Many smaller roles will be doubled. All characters do not have a specific race or ethnic background; we're excited to see a diverse pool of actors audition for all roles.
EBENEZER SCROOGE
Character Age: 40s-50s
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: The CEO of an incredibly successful web-based company, a grumpy, greedy, unpleasant person. Says “humbug” unironically.
TIM
Character Age: Nebulous
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Bob Cratchit’s youngest child and the narrator of the play.
BOB CRATCHIT
Character Age: 40s-50s
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Scrooge’s long-suffering accountant, a sweet, affable, intelligent family man.
ALDER
Character Age: Late 20s-early 30s
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: One of Scrooge’s employees. Uses the power of sarcasm to cope with having Scrooge for a boss.
LINDSEY
Character Age: Mid-20s
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Young and hopeful, just out of college. The new hire at Scrooge & Marley. Already regretting the decision to take the job.
FRED
Character Age: Late 20s-early 30s
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Scrooge’s nephew, an overly cheerful, extremely excitable Christmas aficionado. Owns a different Christmas sweater for every day in December.
JACOB MARLEY
Character Age: 40s-50s
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Special tech preferences: SnapCamera/green screen
Character: Scrooge’s business partner, now deceased. Haunts Scrooge, first as a doorknocker, then as a spooky ghost wrapped in chains. Not a nice guy, but genuinely cares for Scrooge.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
Character Age: ???
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Special tech preferences: SnapCamera/green screen
Character: A creepy, childlike Spirit who takes Scrooge on a magical mystery tour of Christmases past.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Character Age: ???
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Special tech preferences: SnapCamera/green screen
Character: A jolly, food-loving spirit who loves Christmas and the people who celebrate it.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME
Character Age: ???
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Special tech preferences: SnapCamera/green screen
Character: A scary spirit of few words and much emphatic pointing.
GIRL SCOUT
Character Age: 9-12
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Adorable, earnest, and sweeter than the cookies she sells.
MARTHA CRATCHIT
Character Age: 18-22
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Bob’s eldest child. Works as a restaurant server, helps out with the younger siblings.
ANNA CRATCHIT
Character Age: 40s-50s
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Bob’s wife. Loving, warm, doesn’t think highly of Ebenezer Scrooge.
PETER CRATCHIT
Character Age: 13-15
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Bob’s teenage child. Gangly, awkward, sweet.
BETHANY CRATCHIT
Character Age: 9-11
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Bob’s second-to-youngest child.
YOUNG SCROOGE
Character Age: 9-10; 18-19; Late-20s
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Scrooge across time, played by the same actor at each stage.
BARTENDER
Character Age: 20+
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Owns the bar nearest to Scrooge’s office.
FEZZIWIG
Character Age: 35+
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Character: Young Scrooge’s cheerful boss.
PLUS DIVERS OTHERS...children, delivery drivers, pawnshop owners, girlfriends, etc...
SIDES
TIM
Scrooge was rich. Think top-bracket, stock portfolio, tax-haven rich. Although nothing about Scrooge’s behavior or clothing supported this. He wore the same outfit every day: white t-shirt, gray jeans, white New Balance sneakers - practical, comfortable, bland. No one had ever observed him take a vacation. He didn’t own a second or a third home in the Hamptons. He did not, in fact, own a first home. He rented himself a one-bedroom apartment a few blocks away from the office (and he wrote it off as a business expense on his taxes). After Marley’s death, Scrooge became considerably richer, as Marley willed his partner everything he had. Marley was dead, and business was good.
It is Christmas Eve, and Mother Nature is observing the holiday by dumping a truly spectacular amount of snow on the city. It is charmingly picturesque and utterly miserable, because while the office ostensibly has central air and heating, Scrooge has never once been seen to turn the system on, and the office is freezing. The dress code is strict, so many of the employees buy dress shirts a couple of sizes too large to hide their layers, or just think wistfully of warmer climates.
____
SCROOGE
What else can I be, when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and discovering your ledgers are nothing but red ink? If I had my way, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on their lips should be boiled with their own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through their heart.
____
FRED
Well, there’s lots of stuff that might be doing me good even if I haven’t profited from it, I think. And Christmas is one of those things. I’ve always thought of the Christmas season, when it comes round—apart from the religious bits, which are really important to some people—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time. It’s a time of year when people seem to open hearts wider, and to think of helping people everywhere, even if they don’t know them. And therefore, Uncle, although it has never put a dollar in my pocket, I believe that Christmas has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, Christmas is awesome!
____
MARLEY
While my body lived, my spirit did not, and it is therefore condemned to do so after death. I am doomed to wander through the world and witness what I might have shared when I was yet on this earth, but cannot now in death.
I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I wound it about me of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Do you recognize it? Would you like to know the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, last I saw you. You have clearly laboured on it since.
____
FEZZIWIG
Listen, it’s a small matter to show a little gratitude during the holidays. Everyone here is my employee, and they’ve done good work for me all year, so why wouldn’t I throw a party? My attitude towards my people adds up to either employees that love their jobs or employees that suffer through their jobs, and why wouldn’t I choose the former? A party is a drop in the bucket, in terms of money, but if we’re going to be cynical about it, which you are, because you’re cynical about everything, the return I get is more than worth the cost. Is any of this penetrating your cynically objectivist skull?
____
BOB
As good as gold and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because it might be good for them to remember that just because someone is sick, that doesn’t mean they can’t go out and enjoy things. How’s he really doing? ...better, Martha, he’s better.
____
GIRL SCOUT
Merry Christmas! I’m a Girl Scout in Troop Number 626, and I’m doing a service project for Christmas to get my next badge, and my service project is to raise money for the homeless shelter on Third Street, and I made my donation box myself, and would you please donate some spare change if you have some? It’s really cold out, and the shelter gives people a warm place to sleep, and also food, and after this I’m going to go help serve soup, and would you like to donate some spare change if you have some?
____
ALDER
So yeah, they were business partners, but Marley died last year. I don’t know if you could call them...friends, per se. I don’t know if I ever saw Scrooge and Marley have an actual conversation, now that I’m thinking about it. Marley’s cubicle is just still sitting there, like he’s going to come back any minute. It’s kinda spooky. It might be generous to characterize what Scrooge does as “living.” Scrooge exists. Scrooge is at his computer when we arrive. Scrooge is at his computer when we leave. Presumably he consumes sustenance, but no one has ever observed him actually do it. Popular opinion holds that Scrooge photosynthesizes his energy from cold, hard cash.