Charles Dickens
Begrudingly Performs
A Christmas Carol Again

created and performed by
Blake Montgomery

This is a clownshow.

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly... Poster

Chicago 2025

December 4–28

at

Theater Wit

1229 W. Belmont

box office

Montgomery's smart, heartfelt reinvention proves that you don't need fake snow and flying ghosts to make the tale resonate.

Kerry Reid, Chicago Reader


Now over 200 years old, Charles Dickens finds himself once again booked to perform his overly familiar Christmas tale just as he has every December since 1853. Dickens, however, has other ideas.

Perhaps he'll get his wish of simply hosting a festive holiday party. Or, perhaps, the Spirits of Christmas might intervene to give him what he really needs: a chance to rediscover the beauty in his work — and the joy of sharing it with an audience — one more time.

Told in, around, and with the audience, this one-man yuletide tour de force is more festive party than traditional oration. The perfect balance of dramatic and playful, it is a remarkably artful riff on Dickens's original and a charming new holiday tradition to share with friends and family.

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly... Poster

charming and sly

Chicago Reader

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly... Poster

wonderfully off-the-cuff and intimate

Chicago Stage and Screen

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly... Poster

one-man yuletide tour de force

The Fourth Walsh

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly... Poster

a remarkably artful riff

Buzz Center Stage

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly... Poster

witty, heartfelt and (mostly) true to Dickens

Chicago Stage and Screen

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly... Poster

rediscover comfort and joy

The Fourth Walsh

The 2024 Clownshow production at The Den Theatre in Chicago. Photos by Joe Mazza/Brave Lux Inc.

2025

Performances

at

Theater Wit

1229 W. Belmont

Chicago, IL 60657

Box Office

(773) 975-8150theaterwit.org
This is a clownshow.

Thu, December 4 at 8pm [1]

Fri, December 5 at 8pm [1]

Sat, December 6 at 8pm [1]

Sun, December 7 at 7pm [2]

Thu, December 11 at 8pm

Fri, December 12 at 8pm

Sat, December 13 at 8pm

Sun, December 14 at 3pm

Thu, December 18 at 8pm [3]

Fri, December 19 at 8pm

Sat, December 20 at 8pm

Sun, December 21 at 3pm

Fri, December 26 at 8pm

Sat, December 27 at 3pm

Sat, December 27 at 8pm

Sun, December 28 at 3pm


[1] Previews, $30

[2] Opening and Reception, $60

[3] Archival Video Recording