Spread the Love: “Humbug High: A Contemporary Christmas Carol”

Lindsay and Craig spread the love for Humbug High: A Contemporary Christmas Carol.

Transcript

Welcome to Spread the Love. This week we’re going to continue in the holiday spirit with Humbug High: A Contemporary Christmas Carol.

Humbug High is, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, a modern re-envisioning of the original story by Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol. Only in this version, Scrooge is not a miserly, miserable, tight-fisted hand to the grindstone old man, he is a miserly, miserable, tight-fisted hand to the grindstone seventeen-year-old teenager.

The whole story takes place in and around a high school. Craig, what do you love about this play?

What I love about this play is that everybody does A Christmas Carol and there’s no end to your choices out there when you’re looking for an adaptation. But this one is really unique. And this one is unique because it’s set in the modern-day, it takes place in a high school, and most of the characters are high school aged.

And what’s really sweet about it is it manages to retain all the charm, all the humour, and all of the passion for the human spirit as the original. Lindsay, what do you love about Spread the Love?

I love Spread the Love because I get to spread the love about Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol, the original, it’s my favourite book of all time. I bow down at the feet of Charles Dickens. Probably because he is a master at character and story – things that are near and dear to my heart when I write. So the fact that I was able to take my favourite book of all time and make it theatrical, and make it appropriate for high schools fills me with glee that I can’t even contain in this little teeny tiny little box.

My favourite new character that I was able to re-envision for Humbug High is Marley turns into… (Marley, the guy who visits Scrooge to tell him about the three ghosts that are going to visit him and start him on his journey) Marley turns into Madge the lunch lady. When she was alive, she was Scrooge’s, Eddie Scrooge’s one and only friend because she charged top dollar for the fries, she only gave teeny-tiny little portions, and she charges extra for gravy, which of course Scrooge would love. And when she comes in the night to visit Eddie and talk about the three ghosts that are gonna visit him, she’s got chains full of soup ladles and pots and pans and it’s just this wonderful combination of old and new. And again, it just fills my heart with glee. Love it.

That’s it for Spread the Love. See you later!