Genre:
Drama
Runtime:
80 - 90 mins
Cast:
6 male(s), 2 female(s), 1 gender-flexible
Synopsis:
The play opens on late afternoon Christmas Eve in Manhattan (easily changed to city of production) at the sumptuous town house office of "Scrooge & Marley, Interior Design." Ebenezer (Ben) Scrooge, designer to the rich and famous, is keeping his hard-working assistant, Robert Cratchit, at the office till the last minute as usual.
When a fund raiser from "Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS" enters, Ben abruptly dismisses him, grumbling that "those who infect themselves have only themselves to blame, etc."
Finally, Ben closes up for the night, allowing Cratchit to race home to his partner Tim, who is HIV+, and their "family," a lesbian couple, Carol and Maria.
The play continues to follow the Dickens formula, as Ben is visited first by his deceased partner and lover, Jake Marley, a hunky vision in leather and chains, and subsequently three ghosts, the first of whom, the Ghost of Christmas Past, appears as Marilyn Monroe ("Every seven years I get this itch!"), and takes Ben back to his boyhood, his apprenticeship at "Fezziwig Fabrics," where he meets the hot young Jake, and through the good and bad times of their long term relationship.
The Ghost of Christmas Present, ideally a festively-dressed drag queen, fabulous and full of good cheer, shows Ben the world he's been shutting out all these years, including the joy and warmth of the Cratchit "family."
The final ghost, that of the future, presented here as a light and sound effect, slaps Ben in the face with the consequences of his actions, as in the original Dickens.
Faithful to the spirit of the classic, redemption is achieved.
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