JACOB MARLEY’S LAST CHANCE
Written by Rick Gray
Directed by Susi Brown
IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ASTORIA READERS THEATRE
DATES: December 10 (cancelled), 16 & 17, 2025
TIME: Performances begin at 7:30 p.m.
TICKETS: Donations at the door. General seating.
PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTES
This little play came to me on Sunday, August 10, as I walked the dunes above Cannon Beach. My dearest friend needed a one-act play for her high school Theatre students, who wished to enter Virginia’s excellent, statewide system of theatre festivals (Run by the same folks who run football, Virginia’s one-acts are a big deal.)
Since childhood, I have loved A Christmas Carol, and it occurred to me that Dickens’ tale leaves some questions unanswered – among them, how Marley came to visit his old partner on that fateful Christmas Eve. Having played the Ghost in two productions of Hamlet, I wondered if Marley might have been involved in some analogous form of purgatorial probation, and if so, how that might work. Perhaps a play might answer that question.
Four days later, I had a script.
When things come so quickly, it must be a gift. Three months later, after three table reads – hosted by Susi Brown and involving many of the most talented and generous actors in our community – that first draft has evolved into the script you will hear tonight. That evolution owes a great deal to those readings, and to the thoughtful and sensitive feedback of the participants.
As the recipient of all this generosity, my part is to be credited as playwright. The true credit belongs to Mr. Dickens, to Susi and her actors, and to the Source of all Good Things, by whatever name you celebrate that Source.
CAUTIONS: PG — Parental Guidance Suggested
Most people will find this show appropriate for all ages. It does include ghosts and imagery that may be frightening to smaller audiencemembers but contains little or no violence, no strong language and little or no sexual dialogue or situations. Your own judgment is the best guide for your family.
