A Christmas Carol (Text Study)

Being a Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens

(A Globe Players Text Study presentation of A Christmas Carol for schools, being a performance and analysis of the text)

As featured on BBC Radio London!

‘I just wanted to say how magnificent the performance of A Christmas Carol was the other day. Very useful, entertaining and really fun. Please thank the actors, they were fantastic and lovely. You guys have made a big, big difference to a lot of the students here.’

Luke Williams, Head of English, Sacred Heart Secondary School

Download accompanying show material HERE

‘On every Christmas Day of Charles Dickens’ childhood up to the age of eight, it snowed. This informed Dickens’ picture of the ideal Christmas. And throughout A Christmas Carol, every reference to snow is to be found in descriptions of people having a happy time at Christmas. Much of the imagery we today associate with Christmas comes from this story of the reform of the miserly Mr Scrooge.’ (Extract from the Globe Players’ text study play of A Christmas Carol’)

For those wanting a more in depth look at Charles Dickens’ most famous novella, our ‘text study’ production is now available throughout the rest of the year.

There are numerous dramatisations of A Christmas Carol yet in this production we not only give the characters an on-stage life but we extract the prose Dickens used to create the vivid imagery in the novella. 

We explore Ebenezer Scrooge’s ill treatment of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, his unwillingness to celebrate Christmas with his nephew, Fred, and his attitude towards those in need as expressed to a hapless charity collector who calls on him. We follow the chain of events that lead to a succession of ghostly visitors on the night before Christmas. They all work their magic on him until, when Christmas day dawns, Mr Scrooge is a new man.

Analysis includes:

  • Life in Victorian England
  • Dickens’ contribution to social reform
  • Wider context about the life of Charles Dickens

For prices and further information about having The Globe Players visit your school see our FAQs page.