In 1853, ten years after having dashed off his surprisingly successful holiday story, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens gave his first public reading of the work. The effort was so well received, as well as providing much needed cash, that he continued to perform these celebrated readings for the rest of his career. Now, almost 160 years later, performances of A Christmas Carol have become one of our most enduring holiday traditions.

The only problem is that Dickens himself has long grown tired of this annual reading. Reports of his death in 1870 were greatly exaggerated, and year after year he has sustained himself with these solo performances albeit with dwindling enthusiasm as he has moved from the grand concert halls of London to finally, this year, The Building Stage in Chicago's industrial West Loop. Now, facing his 200th birthday, Dickens has reached the breaking point. He knows he must grant the holiday wishes of his audience but desperately hopes to entertain them with anything but another performance of A Christmas Carol.

Created and performed by The Building Stage artistic director Blake Montgomery, Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs... both celebrates and skewers our attachment to this classic tale. Performed in an invitingly warm Victorian atmosphere filled with holiday treats and traditions, the play captures the essence of the Dickens story and provides an affectionate view of the great author himself rediscovering his own passion.