A Christmas Carol, the popular 1843 novella by Charles Dickens (1812–1870), is one of the English author's best-known works. It is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy miser who hates Christmas, but is transformed into a caring, kindly person through the visitations of four ghosts (Jacob Marley and the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future). The classic work has been dramatised and adapted countless times for virtually every medium and performance genre, and new versions appear regularly.
Public readings
The novel was the subject of Dickens' first public reading, given in Birmingham Town Hall to the Industrial and Literary Institute on 27 December 1853. This was repeated three days later to an audience of 'working people', and was a great success by his own account and that of newspapers of the time. Over the years, Dickens edited and adapted the piece for a listening, rather than reading, audience. Dickens continued to give public readings of A Christmas Carol until his death.
Public readings of the novel continue to be held today, with some readers performing in character as Dickens.
Theatre
An early theatrical production was A Christmas Carol: Or, the Miser's Warning!, a two-act adaptation of A Christmas Carol by C. Z. Barnett, first produced at the Surrey Theatre on 5 February 1844, just weeks after the publication of the novella. A version by Edward Stirling, A Christmas Carol; or, Past, Present, and Future, sanctioned by Charles Dickens, opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 26 February 1844, running for over 40 nights.