Coyote's Christmas Carol is a fun, hip, theatrical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Instead of a businessman in 19th century England, our Scrooge is a Mexican American who made his fortune selling real estate in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a bitter, miserly old man who has no intention of honoring Christmas, until a heart attack lands him in the hospital's ER where he encounters the great Native American animal spirit "Coyote".
Coyote is a character celebrated in hundreds of Native American stories and legends. He is not only a great creator who placed the stars in the heavens and brought fire and light to mankind, but he is also a shape-shifter and a humorous trickster intent on puncturing people's puffed-up egos.
Coyote introduces Scrooge to three other
spirit guides, Mariposa, Venado, and La Llorona who take him on a journey to
Christmas Past in his small hometown in Michoacan, Mexico, as well as Christmas Present
and Future in his adopted New Mexico.
The play is written specifically with the needs of
university and high school drama departments in mind and has been used in
English classes from sixth grade on up. It could be done
by a cast of twelve, or a cast one hundred. It could employ
elaborate design elements, or next to nothing. There are
three original
songs which can be played by any high school combo, but the script stands on its
own without the songs.
Running
time is about an hour and a half.
Dickens' A Christmas Carol is one of the most beloved classics of Western literature and like Romeo And Juliet, it has been adapted and reinterpreted many times and in many different ways. I had been involved in three different productions (including a ballet,) and each time was struck by how dark and plodding the productions were compared to the book. I had always wanted to write a Coyote play. So while I was living and teaching theatre in Guadalajara, Mexico, the idea came to me: What if instead of Marley's Ghost, Scrooge is visited by Coyote on that fateful night? That would liven things up! And so we have Coyote's Christmas Carol.
You can read most of the play and purchase copies at Playscripts.com
Check out some of the nice things people have said about Coyote!
© 2004