Walpole High School’s Drama Club has excitedly announced that they will be presenting the holiday classic “A Christmas Carol” as their next project. The infamous play tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, an angry and devilish old man who despises Christmas and is later visited by multiple apparitions who show him the good of Christmas and attempt to convince him to change his ways or be sad and alone forever.

Walpole High School’s take on the play will be presented on Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and December 10 at 3 p.m. in the Walpole High School Auditorium. The production altogether is about an hour and half with 2 acts. Tickets are reserved and on sale now.  

“We’re hoping that the audience will have a wonderful and touching show that will put them in the spirit for the holiday and entertain them,” said Drama Club advisor Jim D’Attilio.

The Drama Club has been working on the production since late September. “There is a lot to do that is not seen by the audience. There are many hours of preparation, writing and entering technical cues, paper-work, posters, PR, lists, casting [and] program ticketing,” said D’Attilio.

Different from many other school productions, the Walpole High School Drama Club chose to keep the production as similar to the original as possible. “One of the nice things about the performance is that it is entirely Charles Dickens’ words—many play versions modify—we don’t. It’s a large case with music and a few surprises along the way,” said D’Attilio.

Senior Riley Mulroy (Ebenezer Scrooge) is excited to take on his role, but knows that the pressure is definitely on with the well-known classic. “Being a lead is exciting, but it can be quite daunting. With a role like Scrooge I am constantly looking over my lines since there are a few scenes where I alone am talking the entire time,” said Mulroy.

Another exciting aspect the audience should look forward to is actually seeing a portion of the next generation of performers! Second grader Colin Cahalane, a cousin of senior Ellen Irmiter (the Ghost of Christmas Present), is taking on the role of Tiny Tim.

Walpole High School’s Drama Club is looking forward to performing “A Christmas Carol” and has put in a lot of time to make this production the best it can be for the audience, and also as a merit to Charles Dickens himself. “We bring the story to life in a traditional, but exciting way,” said Mulroy. “The audience should expect a great show to put them all in the holiday spirit.”