Issue Date: December 14, 2003

Scrooge onstage

CHRISTMAS

"A Christmas Carol" and you
The spirit is still alive

Why I believe the classic's message of redemption and hope is as relevant today as when my great-great-great-grandfather wrote it 160 years ago.

By Catherine Dickens

Today's Scrooge would be barking orders to Bob Cratchit on his BlackBerry.

When people discover that I'm the great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens, they immediately tell me how much "A Christmas Carol" has meant to them for so many years -- and how much it still means to them.

This is no accident. Dickens fully intended for his tale to stand the test of time. Today, in the 21st century, its meanings are as relevant as ever.

"Bah! Humbug!" you may scoff. How can a story about some cranky old coot from the 19th century who drives his employees mercilessly during the holidays -- and has a change of heart only because of fright tactics staged by a quartet of ghosts -- have any lasting significance today?

The answer lies within each page of the story, brimming with Dickens' personal observations about man's basic humanity, matched, of course, with his lively imagination and wit. Such a timeless work will never be out of date or, more pointedly, out of touch with the way we live our lives and manage to overcome flaws within ourselves and others to celebrate the human spirit.

Today's Ebenezer Scrooge would be barking orders 24/7 to Bob Cratchit on his BlackBerry. I once worked for a billionaire who insisted, even if I was vacationing in the Caribbean, on having the phone number of every place I'd be. More often than not, he interrupted my plans by calling and demanding some "mission critical" task.

My old boss was far from alone as a modern-day taskmaster. Just look at the thousands of New Economy workers who toiled 14-hour days, then lost their jobs via e-mail when the CEOs' visions went sour -- the same CEOs who already had cashed in plenty of stock options to keep them in comfort for a long time. Or got multimillion-dollar deals when they were fired for mismanagement.

But "A Christmas Carol" is far from an anti-capitalist rant about the rich exploiting the poor. Dickens was all for making money, and he made a lot of it with "Carol." Scrooge himself is no monster. When the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his youth, we can see much of ourselves in him. As a young man, he isn't ruthless or cruel. He's frightened, actually. Terrified of ending up destitute. The seeds of an unhealthy obsession with wealth are planted by fear, not greed. Who among us can't relate to that?

This story's wonderful relevance goes deeper than corporate woes. The all-too-real 21st-century pain of financial desperation weaves throughout "A Christmas Carol" -- and Dickens' life. His father went to prison for debt, which forced Dickens to work in a factory at age 12. He wrote "A Christmas Carol" because a recent novel had been a relative dud, and he was struggling to support his growing family. Who couldn't identify with that today, with so many needing to sprint just to stay in place? Today, our families suffer from debt more than ever. I am told that personal bankruptcies in America have quadrupled in the past two decades.

Not that it's all doom and gloom. Dickens had a great sense of humor. One of my favorite lines is this remark from Scrooge to the ghost of his former business partner, Marley: "Seven years dead," Scrooge muses. "And traveling all the time? ... You might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years." Today, Scrooge would inquire about Marley's frequent-flier points!

In the end, however, what endears "A Christmas Carol" to modern readers is its poignant depiction of redemption. Scrooge is saved when confronted with the full impact of his uncaring life on those around him and the pain he has created. Once he understands this, Scrooge awakens, physically and spiritually. The old man practically does giddy cartwheels at his newfound power to do good! Surely, the message here is timeless for anyone who has hurt others for personal gain.

I know at least one true modern Scrooge -- and I mean that in a good way. Millard Fuller started as a lawyer with a direct-mail business and, obsessed with getting rich and all the trappings that go with it, lost himself. "My wife and I drifted apart," says Fuller, 68, who lives in Americus, Ga. "One night I came home late, and she told me she didn't love me anymore. That was a wake-up call."

The Fullers proceeded to sell all their possessions and donate their fortune to the poor. Then, in 1976, they started Habitat for Humanity, which has since built more than 150,000 houses for families in need.

He has his own version of Tiny Tim, too, in a sense: Recently, at the University of Portland in Oregon, he gave the commencement speech. The top biology student there had been raised in a Habitat home since the fifth grade. After receiving his diploma, he walked straight to Fuller and said, "Thank you for the house."

"A Christmas Carol" is about the goodness within people, and it has inspired much good, starting with my great-great-great-grandfather himself. He read the book to aid charitable groups. (To be completely honest, he also read the book for a fee for other audiences.)

Today, many pursue the same traditions. In Indianapolis, the Indiana Repertory Theatre performs Carol for young patients from a children's hospital. In Providence, R.I., the Trinity Rep theater company is in its 27th consecutive year performing "Carol" and features a special show in sign language for half price.

As you can see, "A Christmas Carol" is the gift that keeps on giving. Dickens would have wanted it no other way. As he so eloquently wrote in his story: "I have always thought of Christmas time ... as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women ... open their shut-up hearts freely. ... I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

And God bless my great-great-great-grandfather for helping us to find new meaning in it, year after year.

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Scrooge onstage

Even though Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in 19th-century England, the story has become a modern American tradition. Every holiday season, the timeless tale is performed on countless stages across the country. Here are five productions that stand out:

Glitzy in the Big Apple:
The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York
This year marks the 10th anniversary of "A Christmas Carol" at the 5,000-seat theater. The Big Apple-sized production boasts 70 cast members, 25 orchestra members, 22 songs, 320 costumes, 1,100 linear feet of scenery per scene (there are 15) and more than 350 feet of wraparound scenery.

A street edition:
The New Stage Theatre, Jackson, Miss.
The state's only not-for-profit professional theater takes a non-traditional approach. This version adds four new "street people" characters to narrate the story. "Jackson is a diverse city," director Patrick Benton says, "and we try to reflect that in our play."

A family connection:
Gerald Charles Dickens, American Holiday Tour
Dickens, 40, plays all 26 parts himself -- a fitting feat for the great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens. "It's probably easier performing in America," says the British actor (a distant relative of Catherine Dickens). "I find the American audiences are a lot more open and there to enjoy themselves." Upcoming stops include the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and St. Paul, Minn.