A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL by John Cosper

GENRE: Comedy TIME: 5 minutes

SYNOPSIS: A modern re-telling of CAST BREAKDOWN: 9M, 2F A Christmas Carol, where a pro- THEME: Christmas; Birth of Jesus Christmas Scrooge is visited by a ghost who tries to turn him against SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: Isaiah 9:6-7 Christmas. CHURCH YEAR SEASON: Christmas

DIRECTOR’S TIP: This scene can be SUGGESTED USE: Christmas services and programs played as a period piece, or with a CHARACTERS: more modern look. Be as creative and Ebenezer Scrooge elaborate with sets and props as you Bob Cratchit can. A Narrator The Ghost of Christmas Stinks NOTE: Be cautious with the delivery Young Scrooge (age 10) of the line “There is no Santa Claus” Young Bob (age 10) if you perform this for a general audi- Bob’s Father ence with children. It can be done in Bob’s Wife a way that doesn’t “ruin” Christmas for Jack, Melissa, and Tiny Tim – Bob’s kids those who believe. SAMPLEPROPS: A desk and chair, and envelope, a toy truck, a pink slip, a crutch, a tombstone COSTUMES: Traditional Dickens type costumes – or modern costumes. Your choice. SOUND: Wireless mics if desired LIGHTING: General stage SETTING: Scrooge’s shop and town

Drama Ministry [email protected] www.DramaMinistry.com Publisher: Regi Stone ISSN 1084-5917 Executive Editor: Kimberlee CrisafulliSAMPLE / Assistant Editor: Scott Crain Copyright ©2012 by Drama Ministry. Material is intended for use by the subscriber in the subscriber’s local church. With the exception of Drama Ministry is a division of scripts, no issue may be reproduced by any means. As a subscriber, you may make as many copies of scripts as needed in your church only. DOYou may performNOT the sketch as often as you wish at no additional cost. Scripts and performanceCOPY rights arenot transferable between churches Belden Worship Resources and cannot be resold. You may not use the sketch for any commercial or fundraising purpose, and usage rights do not extend to video, radio, www.beldenworshipresources.com television or film. 1 A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL by John Cosper

Bob Cratchit sits at a desk, working hard.

NARR: Once upon a time, there was a man named Bob Cratchit who hated his job. He hated it all year round, but especially at Christmas. That was because Bob Cratchit worked for none other than Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge enters.

SCROOGE: Merrrry Christmas! (sings) Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! Take it, Bob!

BOB: Mr. Scrooge, it’s Christmas Eve.

SCROOGE: That’s right, it’s Christmas Eve! Time to put work away and celebrate the season!

BOB: Put work away? There are several more good hours of work to be done!

SCROOGE: Confound it, Cratchit, no one works on Christmas!

BOB: Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.

SCROOGE: About what?

BOB: I think we should be open tomorrow.

SCROOGE: In heaven’s name, why?

BOB: Because it’s Wednesday! It’s the middle of the work week! SCROOGE:SAMPLE Bob, it’s Christmas! Don’t you have any Christmas spirit? BOB: Bah! Humbug!

SCROOGE: Humbug. Say, I like that. Humbug. Haha. Does it mean holiday cheer?

BOB: It means I hate Christmas! There’s work to be done, and I need the money!

SCROOGE: I’m giving you paid time off!

BOB: Let me work and give me holiday pay, time and a half!

SCROOGE: Sorry, Cratchit! I’m as set in my ways about Christmas as, well, as an old miser. Now run along and spend time with that family of yours! DOBOB: Whatever. NOTSAMPLE COPY Copyright © 2012 by Drama Ministry A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL 2 A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL by John Cosper

SCROOGE: Oh, Bob, before you go. (hands Bob an envelope) Merry Christmas.

BOB: What’s this? I don’t want your charity! Bob throws the envelope at Scrooge.

SCROOGE: It’s called a Christmas bonus! And I had it direct deposited, so no take backs!

NARR: Yes, Scrooge loved Christmas, even when the whole world had forgotten what made it so jolly. But that night, Scrooge had a strange visitor!

GHOST: (off, in a ghostly voice) Scroooooge! Scroooooge!

SCROOGE: Who’s that? Who goes there? The Ghost enters.

GHOST: (flat monotone, which he maintains throughout the drama) Over here, dummy.

SCROOGE: A ghost in a Christmas play? What the Dickens!

GHOST: Scrooge, I am the Ghost of Christmas Stinks.

SCROOGE: The Ghost of what?

GHOST: I have come here to show you that your attitude towards Christmas is old fash- ioned, corny, and just plain stupid.

SCROOGE: Christmas? Stupid? I’ll be the judge of that! GHOST:SAMPLE Very well. Let’s look at Christmas past. Young Scrooge enters with a truck.

YOUNG SCROOGE: Oh boy! A fire truck from Santa!

SCROOGE: Why look! That’s me as a young lad! How happy I was.

GHOST: Sure you were happy. You got everything you wanted, you rich jerk. Now look over here at poor Cratchit. Young Bob enters. His Father enters.

YOUNG BOB: Merry Christmas, Poppa! Did you bring me anything? DOFATHER: You brat! Why wouldNOT I bring youSAMPLE anything? You wanna COPY know what Daddy got Copyright © 2012 by Drama Ministry A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL 3 A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL by John Cosper

for Christmas? A pink slip! Ten years at that lousy dump and they fire me on Christ- mas Eve.

YOUNG BOB: Maybe Santa will bring you a new job!

FATHER: There is no Santa Claus! Young Bob exits, crying. The Father and Young Scrooge exit.

SCROOGE: What a grinch! That man is not fit to be a father. Little Bobby shouldn’t have to deal with that.

GHOST: He didn’t. Not after that. His dad went out that night and ran away with the waitress from the 24/7 diner.

SCROOGE: Poor fellow. I bet I could lift his spirits, though.

GHOST: Oh yeah? Wait until you see Christmas present. Bob enters. His wife enters opposite him.

WIFE: What are you doing home? Shouldn’t you be working?

BOB: Mr. Scrooge sent me home. He closes on Christmas!

WIFE: He just doesn’t want to pay you time and a half, the cheapskate!

BOB: Are you drinking already? WIFE:SAMPLE You would too if you had to deal with your kids all day like me! Bob’s son Jack enters.

JACK: What is that hunk of junk, Dad? Out there in the garage? That better not be my Christmas present!

BOB: You mean the motorbike?

JACK: I wanted a Kawasaki! Not a Honda! I hate you! Jack exits. Melissa enters.

MELISSA: Mom, Dad, I’m pregnant. I’m marrying the father and moving to Cleveland.

BOB: Mr. Miller? Your science teacher got you pregnant?

MELISSA: I knew you wouldn’t understand! I hate you! Melissa runs off. Tiny Tim enters on a crutch.

WIFE: Are you happy? Now we’ll never see our baby girl or our grandchild! The Wife storms off. Bob turns to Tim.

BOB: What do you want? Tim takes his crutch, bashes Bob in the leg, then scampers off. Bob hops after him.

SCROOGE: Wow, poor Bob.

GHOST: You see? And people like you being all happy only makes it worse for a guy like Bob.

SCROOGE: But it doesn’t have to be this way! Things can change for the better!

GHOST: Oh they will. Let me show you Christmas future. A tombstone for Bob Cratchit appears on stage.

SCROOGE: Oh no! Is that Bob?

GHOST: Yep. He has a massive coronary at YOUR office party in three years. His wife sues you and the caterer. You’ll be tied up in litigation for years, lose half your fortune, andSAMPLE then die in an unfortunate car accident. SCROOGE: At Christmas time?

GHOST: Does it matter? Dude, you’re going to die. So’s Cratchit. So there’s really no point whatsoever in all this holiday cheer.

SCROOGE: Oh but there is! You’ve shown me many unfortunate things, but you left out the one thing that makes Christmas matter: the birth of Christ!

GHOST: Oh boy, here we go.

SCROOGE: It’s true! It’s Christ whose birth we celebrate. We celebrate it because it is the beginning of our salvation. God became a man and was born into this world of sorrow and suffering so that he could offer us a new life in him! DOGHOST: You don’t really believeNOT that stuff,SAMPLE do you? COPY Copyright © 2012 by Drama Ministry A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL 5 A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL by John Cosper

SCROOGE: How do you think I’ve overcome the hardships in my own life? Because of Christ, I can face any trial with joy in my heart. That is why I love Christmas. Because God loved me enough to send his only son to pay the price for my sin.

GHOST: Whatever, man. You are hopeless. The Ghost exits.

NARR: And so it was, the Ghost went on his way, unable to dim the light of Christmas in the heart of one Ebenezer Scrooge. And as for Bob Cratchit. Bob enters.

BOB: Hey, leave me out of this!

NARR: Sorry, Bob, but Scrooge will continue praying for you, hoping that one day, the true spirit of Christmas might visit you.

BOB: Yeah, right. I don’t believe in ghosts! Bob starts to exit.

ANOTHER GHOST VOICE: (ghostly) Craaaatchit! Craaaaatchit!

BOB: Aw knock it off! ...... Lights down.

A REVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL © 2012 John Cosper, published by Drama Ministry SAMPLEPO Box 40387, Nashville, TN, 37204 • Phone: 1-866-859-7622 • Fax: 1-615-463-9139 • E-mail: [email protected] Material is intended for use by the subscriber in the subscriber’s local church. With the exception of scripts, no issue of Drama Ministry may be reproduced by any means. As a subscriber, you may make as many copies of scripts as needed for your church only. You may perform the sketch as often as you wish at no additional cost. Scripts and performance rights are not transferable between churches and cannot be resold. You may not use the sketch for any commercial or fundraising purpose, and usage rights do not extend to video, radio, television or film outside your church.