Geva Theatre Center, Rochester NY

A Christmas Carol

2013

Be a Costume Designer…Design Your Own Ghost! The Ghost of Christmas Past is the first of the visiting ghosts Marley warned Scrooge to expect on Christmas Eve. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge both happy and painful memories of his own life as a boy and as a young man.

Use your imagination to draw what you think the Ghost of Christmas Past looks like.

Write three sentences describing the ghost you drew: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Geva Theatre Center, Rochester NY

A Christmas Carol

2013

Be a Costume Designer…Design Your Own Ghost! The Ghost of Christmas Present is the second of the visiting ghosts Marley warned Scrooge to expect on Christmas Eve. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge what is currently happening in the lives of his family and employee Bob Cratchit, and in the world around him.

Use your imagination to draw what you think the Ghost of Christmas Present looks like.

Write three sentences describing the ghost you drew: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Geva Theatre Center, Rochester NY

A Christmas Carol

2013

Be a Costume Designer…Design Your Own Ghost! The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the last of the visiting ghosts Marley warned Scrooge to expect on Christmas Eve. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge visions of what might happen in the future to him and the people he knows if he does not try to be a better person.

Use your imagination to draw what you think the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come looks like.

Write three sentences describing the ghost you drew: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Geva Theatre Center, Rochester NY

A Christmas Carol

2013

In his novel A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens describes the Ghost of Christmas Past as neither a boy or a girl, but a young child of no particular gender with long white hair, a white gown, and an ethereal glow. The Ghost of Christmas Present, we are told, is a jolly and giant man with dark brown curly hair and a green fur-lined robe with a wreath atop of his head. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come never speaks and is shrouded in a black, hooded cloak except for one long skeletal hand sticking out with a beckoning finger. However, it is the decision of a play’s director and costume designer to choose what characters look like in their production. While they may choose to present these three ghosts, and the ghost of Jacob Marley, in a way that is similar to what Charles Dickens envisioned in his novel, they may also choose to portray them completely differently. In Geva’s production of A Christmas Carol, Costume Designer Devon Painter and Mark Cuddy, the show’s director and adapter, choose to stay mostly faithful to Dickens descriptions of the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas Present when they considered how these two characters would look in our production. There are slight changes that give these characters each a unique quality, but they mostly align with Dickens description of them. Activity: Using the novel, read Charles Dickens descriptions of the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present in A Christmas Carol, then consider the pictures of the same two characters, below, in Geva’s stage adaptation. What are the similarities and what are the differences? Why do you think these choices were made? Would you have done anything differently? Is this how you imagined they would look?

(Above: The Ghost of Christmas Past in Geva’s A Christmas Carol, 2011-2012) (Right: The Ghost of Christmas Present in Geva’s A Christmas Carol, 2011-2012) * Photos courtesy of Ken Huth/Huth Photo

Geva Theatre Center, Rochester NY

A Christmas Carol

2013

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a surprise in our production. It only vaguely resembles the Yet to Come ghost Dickens describes in his novel. The director and costume designer intentionally chose to present this ghost in an untraditional way. Discussion Questions: Who do you think the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is? Does it represent anyone or anything? What do you imagine the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come will look like in Geva’s production if it does not directly resemble Charles Dickens skeletal, grim reaper description in the novel? How would you choose to have this ghost appear, if you were a costume designer or director?

Designing Carol’s Set One of the great challenges of designing a set for A Christmas Carol is creating a space that can accommodate many different locations. A Christmas Carol also takes place in several different time periods – Scrooge’s past, present, and future. In all three times, we also visit multiple locations – including schools, offices, homes, and streets. Imagining and implementing a set that can take us to all of these places seamlessly and that can be transformed quickly is the duty of the scenic designer. Questions for Consideration: If you were a scenic designer, how would you tackle the task of creating a set for this production? Consider all the locations and time periods in each scene of the play or book, the number of actors who would need space to move around the stage all at the same time, and how you would show transitions, passage of time, and change of location. Would you choose to create pieces that look very specifically like Victorian London, or would you choose pieces that appear to be timeless? Would the set change or remain the same throughout the entire performance? Would you use special effects such as fog, trap doors, fly systems, and automated equipment, or would you want to keep it simple? Why? What mood would you hope to convey through the set– something warm and inviting, or dark and cold? Would it stay the same throughout the production or change partway through? Consider what materials (wood, metal, fabric, etc.) you might choose to dress your set with and what colors of paint, metal, wood or fabric might suit the story you are telling. Activity: After you have thoroughly considered your own vision for the staging of A Christmas Carol, gather in small groups to share your design ideas with several of your peers and to hear the designs they have come up with. Did your group envision similar designs, or was each interpretation unique? Did anyone share ideas that you had never even considered? Did you learn anything from this exercise? At the theatre: When you walk into the Main Stage theatre at Geva to see our production of A Christmas Carol, consider the set and the set dressings you see on stage – the types of materials used, the colors you see, the use of space, the use of technology, how you imagine each location and time period might be portrayed and, most importantly, how the set makes you feel. Think about if the set is what you expected it might look or feel like, or if it evokes a sense of surprise for you in some way. As the performance continues, examine the changes that are made – the transitions between scenes, times, and locations. If you feel differently at any point in the play than you did previously, consider how the design of the show (the scenic, lighting, costume, or sound choices), in addition to the story itself, might have influenced how you feel.