Director's Note for A Dickens Christmas

Christmas is magical. The season, the feeling, the atmosphere. Despite the bombardment of merchandise

on November 1st, the general mood is one of cheer and kindness. Part of this magic comes from a season where we are required to think of others - even if it is to buy Aunt Betty that little knick knack that you know will either collect dust on a shelf or be re-gifted to your cousin next year. The thing is, Aunt Betty is probably the same person that would be at your door with a casserole if you were laid up for a couple weeks.

Scrooge’s nephew Fred said that Christmas is, “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 seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

It is all about the relationship, the connection, the fact that we are all on this journey together. It took three ghosts to get Scrooge to recognize that. For us, it is the haunting cry of our children for attention, the ringing of the charity bell as we enter the store, and the melodies that point us to a Savior.

The stories we tell in theatre are those stories that can change a life. May we find the same joy in giving Aunt Betty that knick knack that Scrooge found in giving the Cratchits the largest turkey in town. May the enjoyment of this story help make this “a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time” as we journey through life together.

Have a Merry Christmas,

Nathanael