Scrooge learns his lesson on OSP stage

Dec. 4-13
‘A Christmas Carol’
Old Schoolhouse Players will present “A Christmas Carol” in the Bud Allison Auditorium in the Mount Pleasant Township Community Center, Hickory.
It’s Christmas Eve, 1843. Charles Dickens has asked friends and family to gather to celebrate the season, but the guests want Dickens to tell them a story. Dickens refuses, saying he doesn’t work on Christmas Eve.
Dickens tells them, “If there is going to be any storytelling, each person in attendance must take part in the telling.” So begins Michael Pailer’s adaptation of the Dicken’s classic, “A Christmas Carol,” in this distinctly different production by OSP. Each of the 10 cast members must take on roles assigned to them by Dickens as they bring the classic tale to life.
Tyler Smith, who doubles as Dickens and Ebeneezer Scrooge, said with the play opening in Dicken’s attic, where the author does most of his writing, there’s a different take on the classic tale. “It’s a play within a play,” Smith said. “You open with Dickens who is trying to write his life story, but can’t do it. It’s fun to see Dickens transform into Scrooge. He’s lost his inner child and he’s trying to reconnect with his childhood.”
Once the guests are given their respective characters, they begin to enact the story as we all know it: Scrooge being visited by three ghosts in the middle of the night.
Performances are Dec. 4-6 and 11-13. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors/students and $8 for children under 12.
For tickets, call 724-344-7467 or e-mail tickets@osptheater.com