Jim Avelis Terre Haute actor Chuck Shutt played English author Charles Dickens in a 2017 version of âA Christmas Carolâ for the Community Theatre of Terre Haute. Shutt also played the starring role of Ebenezer Scrooge in a musical version of Dickensâ play in 2007. Submitted photo Life in December 2020 may feel as if youâre sitting in the crowd at a production of âA Christmas Carol.â For Ebenezer Scrooge, the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future forced him to do some soul searching. For folks today, this tumultuous pandemic year has led to such introspection, too. The message in Charles Dickensâ masterpiece still draws people to theaters 177 years after he wrote it. Of course, plays based on Dickensâ novella must be delivered this year to audiences through computer or television screens, instead of in a packed auditorium. Most fans of âA Christmas Carolâ already know its plot. Yet, they want to see it unfold.