REXBURG -- The classic "A Christmas Carol" theater production returns to the Madison Junior High School stage.
The Rexburg Community Theatre is putting on the show with co-president Robert Hibbard as the director.
The Rexburg Community Theatre started when Hibbard moved to Rexburg in 2004 and was surprised to see that there was no community theater. To fill the gap, he and a couple friends founded the Rexburg Community Theatre. They put on two to three shows per year, and Hibbard says this story is a community favorite.
Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol" in 1843, which follows Ebenezer Scrooge, a selfish miser who dismisses Christmas as a sham. One night, his dead business partner Jacob Marley visits him as a ghost in chains. Marley warns that three more spirits will visit Scrooge to urge him to change in order to protect him from Marley's fate.
"There's a little bit of Ebenezer Scrooge in all of us and so we have to try to focus on what the Christmas season is really about and not on other distractions in life," Hibbard said.
Rehearsals started in October, and this year's cast has actors ranging from 5 years old to past retirement. Lucas Buchanan plays Ebenezer Scrooge, and admires the cast's commitment to the production.
"Every single actor in our show puts in as much as they can," Buchanan said.
Buchanan enjoys bringing out his crotchety side for the character, but also hopes the audience resonates with the show's universal message.
"I really hope they walk away with that understanding that regardless of your religious background or belief, Christmas is a time that we as a community and as humanity come together," Buchanan said. "We should all be reaching out towards our fellow man, which is the story that I think Scrooge needed to learn the most."
"This show is really a good one to celebrate Christmas with because we remember whose birth we're celebrating and we see the opposite of Christ in the character of Ebenezer Scrooge," Hibbard said. "The ghosts, in my mind, they're ghosts, but in some ways they represent angels to show you what you should do rather than what you are doing," Hibbard said.
"A Christmas Carol" will run Dec. 12 through 14 at 7 p.m. at Madison Junior High School. To order tickets, visit the Rexburg Community Theatre website. Tickets purchased at the door have an additional $2 fee.