Auditions Open for A Christmas Carol: Unwrapped
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a well-known holiday tome: a story of a miserly old business owner learning the error of his ways and giving in to the Christmas spirit of helping those in need. Now it’s getting a modern stage adaptation, and thespians in Beijing are welcome to audition.
In the tradition of the “Drunk Shakespeare” plays before it, A Christmas Carol: Unwrapped intends to parody, subvert, and modernize the original source material, all while keeping to the original heart of the Christmas Carol story.
Here’s what you need to know about auditions, which are open from now until next Wednesday, Sep 25:
To audition, you can submit an audition video to Laurel Burns via WeChat (ID: laurelpalooza) or email (laurelburns89@gmail.com).
The video in question must include one of the provided monologues below, and must not exceed 90 seconds.
After review, you may receive a request from the creative team to attend a live callback which will take place on Saturday, Sep 28.
Rehearsals will begin on Oct 14. Actors will be expected to attend rehearsals once or twice weekly on Mondays and Tuesdays. Dec 2-3 will be technical/dress rehearsals, which may go late into the evening.
Performances will be held on Dec 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, and 21 at JinShang Yuan.
Available Roles:
- Ebenezer Scrooge: A miserly, bitter old man who despises Christmas, but is given a chance to transform into a generous, caring person through the visits of three spirits.
- Jacob Marley: Scrooge’s former business partner, now a tormented ghost condemned to wander the earth in chains, who warns Scrooge to change his ways.
- Bob Cratchit: Scrooge’s underpaid and overworked clerk, a kind, humble family man who remains optimistic and compassionate despite his hardships.
- Fred: Scrooge’s cheerful and persistent nephew, who believes in the goodness of Christmas and always invites his uncle to celebrate despite constant rejections.
- The Ghost of Christmas Past: A mystical and ethereal spirit who takes Scrooge on a journey through his early life, showing him the moments that shaped his cold demeanor.
- The Ghost of Christmas Present: A larger-than-life, jovial spirit who reveals to Scrooge the joy and warmth of Christmas currently happening around him, while also exposing the struggles of the poor.
- The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Future): A silent, grim reaper-like figure who shows Scrooge the bleak, lonely future that awaits him if he doesn’t change his ways.
- Fezziwig: Scrooge’s joyful and generous former employer, who represents the ideal kind of businessman that Scrooge could have become—kind, warm, and beloved by all.
- Belle: Scrooge’s former fiancée, who breaks off their engagement after realizing that Scrooge’s love for wealth has eclipsed his love for her.
- Mrs. Cratchit: Bob Cratchit’s supportive but strong-willed wife, who struggles to make ends meet for her family but harbors resentment toward Scrooge for Bob’s low wages.
NOTE: THERE ARE MORE ROLES AVAILABLE! Townspeople, smaller characters, etc.
If you are cast as a character (or multiple characters) you are expected to memorize all of your lines for the performance.
Audition Tips:
- Speak clearly, and choose a focal point to speak to. Preferably do not speak directly to the camera but to a point just out of frame.
- Make a CHOICE about who the character is and how they see the world. You can be creative, do not feel like you must portray the character in a way it has traditionally been portrayed.
- Take your time and add some action to your audition. Make sure you are not just reciting lines, but convincingly communicating with another person.
Suggested Audition Pieces:
You may use these monologues to audition for ANY character.
Male Monologue One (Ebenezer Scrooge): Bah! Humbug! I do mean it! What reason have you to be so merry? What else can I be in such a world of fools! Merry Christmas indeed! What is Christmas but a time for paying bills without money, for finding yourself a year older and not an hour richer? Every idiot who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!
Male Monologue Two (Ebenezer Scrooge): Spirit! I’m the one who died! I’m the one nobody mourned! Spirit! Hear me! I’m not the man I was! I will honor Christmas in my heart and keep the spirit of Christmas all year round! I will live in the past, the present, and the future! I have learned my lesson! Spirit! Spirit! Wh… what…Why I’m back in my own bed! But how could… another chance! I’m being given another chance!
Female Monologue One (Belle): Ebenezer… You love your money more than you love me, Ebenezer. A golden idol has replaced me. You fear the world too much, and don’t love it enough. I have seen you change from a man of nobility into an evil, twisted slave of greed. You are not the man who loved me. You are not… the man I loved. I release you, Ebenezer.
Female Monologue Two (Mrs. Cratchit): The founder of the feast indeed! I wish I had your Mr. Scrooge here right now, Bob Cratchit. I’d give him a piece of my mind to feast upon! To drink to the health of such a stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge! We carry the Christmas spirit too far! Very well, then. I’ll drink to his health… but only because it’s Christmas Day.
If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact Laurel Burns via the methods listed above (*note that WeChat is preferred, though).
READ: Visit Here: The Working People's Cultural Palace
Images: Mikki Schaffner Photography, wallpapercave.com
