“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


This one-of-a-kind holiday production, which imagines a still-living Dickens forced to perform his famous A Christmas Carol for the 171st consecutive year, lovingly celebrates and skewers the famous author and our Christmas traditions.

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly... originally charmed audiences during its Chicago debut at The Building Stage in December 2011 and again in 2012. Now, ten years after the closing of The Building Stage, former Artistic Director Blake Montgomery revives his Jeff Award-winning solo performance for the 2024 holiday season.

Charles Dickens Begrudgingly
Performs ‘A Christmas Carol’ Again

Created and performed by Blake Montgomery

December 5 – 22, 2024

The Den Theatre
1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL


this is a clownshow