To most, the 21st of December is four days earlier than Christmas, or the second day of Hanukkah, or even Humbug Day, but to a few, the 21st is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Families celebrate this day to bring back the light in many different ways that are unique themselves.

To say that the 21st is the shortest day of the year means that that day has the shortest amount of light. This occurs when the North Pole reaches the furthest tipping point away from the sun. That means that Vermont will only have about 12 hours of sunlight.

During the Neolithic era, several religious groups were aware of the lack of light and erected monuments for the event. Stonehenge in Great Britain was erected to watch the sun set and the Newgrange in Ireland was used as a quasi-sanctuary from the dark because the building was designed to be flooded with natural light at any point during the day.

The winter solstice was very important to ancient communities because they were unsure of their chance of survival through the winter. January through April were known as the famine months because it was right around the time when families started to run out the food that they had stored up.

In more temperate climates, during the time around the winter solstice, farmers would have to kill most, if not all, of their cattle in order to feed themselves. Therefore, it would be the only time of the winter that there would be a fresh supply of meat available to eat. Also, most of the wine and beer that was made earlier that year, would have been properly fermented. With the freshly made alcohol and the freshly slaughtered livestock, most communities would have a celebration to commemorate the returning of the light that would occur the next day. These celebrations would lift the spirits of the communities signifying that the worse of winter would soon be over.

Some of current celebrations that families take place in are things like: dressing up in costumes (like Halloween but without asking random strangers for sugary donations), having a community feast and bonfire, singing and dancing along with folk singers, or even burning a yule log and roasting marshmallows. Winter solstice celebrations are not constrained to years of tradition. Most families celebrate the winter solstice in their own unique way, which makes the holiday even more special.

The audience joined in the journey with Scrooge and other actors as they sang and danced their way through this magical play.  Scrooge, Dakota Bebo, played the traditional maniacal miser well, especially capturing his giddy transformation after several ghostly visits.
The actors captivated the audience with the emotional execution of their parts - the house was silent as Tiny Tim sang at the Crachit family Christmas. Many of the songs and lines sung earlier in the play were echoed over a loudspeaker as reminders to Scooge of what could have been and what the future could bring. In a particularly haunting moment, a song came on Tiny Tim had sung earlier as the family was mourning him.  The Crachit family all stood together as the younger siblings had their heads covered by a blanket while Mr. Crachit was up at the grave site praying for Tiny Tim.  The scene was so sad that many audience members said they got caught up in the emotion, forgetting it was a play.

The stage set was spectacular capturing the rustic feel of the 1860’s.  The walls of the set were painted in an antique hue giving an older feel for the era. The costumes were unique but perfect for the parts, covering everything from ragged urchins, to choir members and holiday party goers of the late 1800s.  The arrangement of the costumes for the spirits stood out from the rest.  The draped white dress of the Spirit of Christmas Past was haunting as it evoked images of a lost bride. The robust hat of the spirit of Christmas Present looked magical, made of sticks and gold.  The ragged ripped clothing of Christmas Future was around a spooky spirit with a hidden face.

The accompaniment of the live band lent a professional quality to the performance as the music perfectly matched the mood and action of each scene.  

The performances were exceptional setting the mood for the holidays with all the live music, dancing,and fun.  Great Job Yoh theater players!!