Up The Chimney
Preface
This play is intended, not only for acting, but also for reading.It is so arranged that boys and girls can read it to themselves, justas they would read any other story. Even the stage directions and thedescriptions of scenery are presented as a part of the narrative.At the same time, by the use of different styles of type, the speechesof the characters are clearly distinguished from the rest of the text,an arrangement which will be found convenient when parts are beingmemorized for acting.
The play has been acted more than once, and by different groups ofpeople; sometimes on a stage equipped with footlights, curtain, andscenery; sometimes with barely any of these aids. Practical suggestionsas to costumes, scenery, and some simple scenic effects will be foundat the end of the play.
What sort of a Christmas play do the boys and girls like, and in whatsort do we like to see them take part? It should be a play, surely, inwhich the dialogue is simple and natural, not stilted and artificial;one that seems like a bit of real life, and yet has plenty of fancy andimagination in it; one that suggests and helps to perpetuate some ofthe happy and wholesome customs of Christmas; above all, one that ispervaded by the Christmas spirit. I hope that this play does notentirely fail to meet these requirements.
Worcester, Mass.
SHEPHERD KNAPP.
The Introduction
Before the curtain opens, MOTHER GOOSE comes out, and this iswhat she says:
Good evening, dear children. I see you are all expecting me to show youa Christmas Play. Well, I have one ready, sure enough. And now let mesee, what shall I tell you about it? For one thing it will take place onChristmas Eve, and then it will be all about Christmas, of course. Thefirst scene will be in the house, where a little girl and a little boylive, with their father, who is a doctor, and their mother. It isevening and the weather is very cold outside. The little girl and boyare writing letters—can you guess to whom they are writing?—and themother is knitting, and the father is reading his newspaper; as you willsee in a moment for yourselves. So be very quiet, for now it is going tobegin.
Up The Chimney
The First Scene
The curtain opens, and you see a room in a house and four people,just as Mother Goose promised. On one side is a fire-place, and noticethe stockings hanging by it. At the back is a window, looking out intothe street, but you cannot see anything there, because it is dark out ofdoors. The little girl's name is Polly, but the first one to speak isher brother, named JACK, who looks up from his letter andsays:
Mother, how do you spell "friend"?
MOTHER answers: F, r, i, e, n, d. Have you nearly finished yourletter, Jack?
Yes, says JACK, still writing. Then he stops, straightens upand says, There! It's all done. Shall I read it to you, Mother?
Do, MOTHER answers. And Father puts down his newspaper to listen, andPolly stops writing. Mother goes on knitting, because she can knit andlisten at the same time.