“Karl's Kristmas Karol”

Hruby, Norbert J. (American playwright, retired second president of Aquinas College, 1918-____), “Karl's Kristmas Karol,”

a 10-minute satire in English, set a residence in a suburb of Washington, D.C., Christmas Eve,

2m1f or 3m

; © 2004 by Norbert J. Hruby; • in Norbert J. Hruby’s Karl's Kristmas Karol (Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A.: The Author, 2004); • script/rights available from Norbert J. Hruby, 245 Briarwood SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506, U.S.A., telephone (home) 616-459-1149, e-mail nordolor@iserv.net. • Cited by Norbert J. Hruby, via ftp November 29, 2004; Hruby says,

§ Dramatis Personae Lee (m), 40, Ghost of a reformed sinner, accent Deep South; Karl (m), 55, political adviser: rotund, cherubic; Narrator (m or f), adult.

§ Synopsis “On Christmas Eve Karl (Rove), drunk, stumbles into bed, falls asleep. He is awakened by the ghost of Lee (Atwater), who reminisces with Karl, then tells him of his own last year of life, berates Karl for his sins, and calls him to repent. Karl turns over and goes back to sleep. Narrator reminds audience that this is ‘Karl's Kristmas Karol,’ not Dickens' well-loved Christmas story.

§ Comment “Narrator addresses the audience in language echoing Charles Dickens' opening lines of A Christmas Carol. • There is a single set -- the bedroom of Karl -- requiring no change of scenery. Only sound-effect (optional) is a short bit of background music taken from Lee Atwater's "Red, Hot, and Blue" album. • Obviously written since November 2, 2004. No production history.

§ Themes Atwater "Harvey Leroy "Lee” Atwater, a United States Republican political consultant and strategist, February 26, 1951-March 29, 1991), A Christmas Carol, Christmas Eve, Dickens (Charles John Huffam Dickens, English, one of the world’s most popular, prolific, and skilled novelists, February 7, 1812-June 9, 1870), drunkenness, ghost, reminiscence, repentance, Rove (Karl Rove, a United States Republican old-school political operator, b. December 25, 1950).



See also Norbert J. Hruby's

• "Ashes to Ashes," a 10-minute peace play (tragedy) in English, set in a living room of suburban American home, the present (because it is!), 2m1f
• "Fungo," a 13-minute comedy in English, set in the office of The Stylus literary magazine, on two Mondays, two months apart, 2m1f
• "Hegemony," a 10-minute bare-stage satirical comedy in English, five years from now, 2m1f
• "Home for the Holidays," a 10-minute comedy in English, set in a suburban home, U.S.A., May, 2004, 1m3f
• "The Jealous Mistress," a 48-minute melodrama in English, set in a small college town, 2003, 2m2f
• "Matching Gift," a 25-minute comedy in English, set in the office of a college president, 2003, 2m2f
• "Peggy: The Life and Times of Mrs. Benedict Arnold," a 60-minute bare-stage drama in English, set in the Arnold home, England, 1803, 1f
• "Pen Pals," a 30-minute drama in English, set in a convent/prison, 2003, 2m2f
• "A Sonnet from the Portuguese," an 11-minute satire in English, set in a residence in a university town, 2003, 3f

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