The Lights of Long Ago

SCENE FIVE:

SCROOGE’S BEDROOM. NIGHT

(SCROOGE tosses and turns in bed, when suddenly the clock strikes one. All the curtains billow and blow, as the GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST rises up through the bed. The GHOST looks strangely like the LAMPLIGHTER who accosted SCROOOGE on the street, only he has a light emanating from his head.)

SCROOGE

What the devil...?

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Oops! Hello

(The GHOST jumps down)

SCROOGE

Who are you?

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past!

(The GHOST sits on the bed next to SCROOGE and opens a book)

IT’S YOUR LUCKY NIGHT!

BOUGHT YOU SOMETHING BRIGHT!

SOMETHING WITH A TWINKLE AND A GLOW

TO REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO

REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO

(The GHOST gives SCROOGE a glimmering orb)

GLIMMERS IN THE DARK!

HERE AND THERE A SPARK!

SUDDENLY A PICTURE STARTS TO GROW

COME REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO

REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO

A CHILD!

(Lights come up on SCROOGE at 8 near the Law Courts)

IS THIS WHO YOU USED TO BE?

A SCENE!

SHINING FROM YOUR PAST

THE VAST VISTAS OF YOUR MEMORY

(FOUR ACOLYTES come in from the bedroom)

THE SHADOWS YOU CAST

MR SCROOGE, HOLD FAST...

(Suddenly, without warning, the GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST, grabs SCROOGE by the hand, and they fly out of the window, into the midnight sky)

ONWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT

ONWARD TOWARD THE LIGHT

ONWARD TO A PLACE YOUR HEART WILL KNOW

COME REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO

REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO

SCENE SIX

THE LAW COURTS

(The first of a series of tableaux in which SCROOGE revisits his past)

JUDGE

John William Scrooge, you will go to prison for none – payment of debts. Three years! Next case!

FAN AT 8, SCROOGE AT 8

Father, Father!

SCROOGE’S MOTHER:

No, no! How will we live? Where will we go?

SCROOGE’S FATHER:

(Being dragged away by two JAILERS)

Learn this lesson, Ebenezer! Save your pennies! Make your fortune and keep it!

SCROOGE

Father! That’s my father!

SCROOGE’S MOTHER, FAN AT 6

LET THE STARS IN THE SKY

REMIND US OF MAN’S COMPASSION

LET US LOVE TILL E DIE

AND GOD BLESS US EVERYONE

SCROOGE

Mother!!

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Poor little Ebenezer Ah, what a black day. Your mother died soon after, you and your sister were separated...

POOR, PATHETIC LAD!

NO MORE MUM OR DAD!

NOT A BIT OF JOY OR MISTLETOE

TO REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO

REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO

SCENE SEVEN

A FACTORY, NEAR A GIANT MACHINE

The Second Tableau

(We see YOUNG SCROOGE who is now at 12 making boots. MR. HAWKINS, the factory owner, is paying wages to the workers. The last person to be paid is SCROOGE)

MR. HAWKINS

(To boy worker)

Here’s your pay my boy!

(To other workers)

Merry Christmas!

BOY WORKER (Receiving pay)

Thank you, Mr Hawkins

A MOTHER (Exiting)

Happy Christmas, Ebenezer!

MR. HAWKINS

Here’s your pay, Ebenezer. Don’t spend it all at once!

SCROOGE AT 12

No, I shan’t thank you. I intend to make my fortune and keep it

MR. HAWKINS

Well, happy Christmas, my boy!

(SCROOGE AT 12 takes his pen and begins writing a letter. We see FAN AT 10 reading it)

SCROOGE AT 12

My dear Sister Fan, I've been living and working in this terrible place for six months

(MR. HAWKINS and CLERK laugh loudly and exit)

I miss you terribly. I often remember the way things used to be

“A PLACE CALLED HOME”

THERE’S A PLACE CALLED HOME

I CAN ALMOST SEE

WITH A RED FRONT DOOR

AND A ROARING FIRE

AND A CHRISTMAS TREE

IT’S A PLACE CALLED HOME

THAT IS STILL CAN TRAVE; TO

FAN AT 10

IT’S THE PLACE IN MY HEART

WHERE I STILL COME HOME TO YOU

(SCROOGE signs the letter)

SCROOGE

Fan!

SCROOGE AT 12

Merry Christmas. Don’t forget me. Your loving brother, Ebenezer

(He looks out the window, toward his future, sadly)

SCROOGE, SCROOGE AT 12

JUST A PLACE IN MY HEART

I CAN STILL COME HOME TO YOU

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

The years flew by. Fan married, then, died in childbirth. Lights out on poor Fan! But her child survived

SCROOGE

Hmmm. My nephew, Fred. Yes, he survived, and my sister died. I don't see him. Why are you showing me these miserable moments? Let me go!

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

To understand the present. Learn from the past!