When Ben's girlfriend, Marly, dies, he feels his life is over. What could possibly matter now when Marly is gone? So when Valentine's Day approaches, it makes sense that this day that was once so meaningful to Ben leaves him feeling bitter and hollow. But then Marly shows up--or at least her ghost does--along with three others spirits. Now Ben must take a painful journey through Valentine's Days past, present, and future, and what he discovers will change him forever.

"Marley's Ghost". Before Scrooge, before Dickens, there was Jacob Marley. In Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge owes his salvation to one man: his former partner, Jacob Marley. Yet despite Marley's crucial role, we know him only as a shadow. Until now. Fugitive, prodigy, gambler, miner, mentor, corruptor and partner of Scrooge, Jacob Marley suffers a life in which he is both victim and villain, noble and vile. After his death, Marley's ghost wanders a frozen hell seeking answers and redemption. There he plays one last role: that of a pawn in the battle between light and dark. Ultimately, Marley must choose between God and the Devil, between sacrifice and betrayal, as mankind's future hangs in the balance. Marley's Ghost, a dark tale about the winter of the soul, shines a brilliant, new light on Dickens' immortal story.

A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future.

Jacob Marley makes his ghostly debut in the famous A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Marley was such a horrible person that he was doomed to wander the earth for eternity, carrying heavy chains. In Jacob Marley’s Ghost, author Michael Fridgen tells the story of a young Jacob Marley. It explores a host of questions: If Marley was as terrible as he appears, why does he warn Ebenezer Scrooge? Perhaps Marley wasn’t always bad? Is there a reason he attempts to scare Scrooge into changing his ways? During the years before he met Scrooge, Marley grew up in London raised by an adoring father and a horrifying mother. When death comes close to his home, a chain of perilous events begins. Marley is sent away from London on a ship, sold into slavery, and forced to work for one of the most detested men in France. Because he’s different, Marley is bullied and tortured. Although he makes some close friends, Marley is eventually forced into an impossible and deadly situation. To survive, he must choose what kind of person he wants to be. Jacob Marley’s Ghost reveals the origins of A Christmas Carol’s unforgettable characters while showing who should be praised and who should be boiled in their own pudding.

Before Ebenezer Scrooge learned the true meaning of Christmas, another old miser was haunted by the ghosts of his past, present and future. What happened to Jacob Marley, in the seven years since his untimely death, that could convince him to sacrifice everything to save the one man he despises most? ..". [a] rich new holiday confection, MARLEY'S GHOST. Jeff Goode's play is a smart, engaging prequel to A CHRISTMAS CAROL that stirs in some wicked whimsy a la Lewis Carroll and ultimately conveys the same inspirational message of hope and forgiveness as the original ... Theatergoers ... will witness a rather exquisite blend of foolery and feeling." -Los Angeles Times ..". Jeff Goode's bizarre take on A Christmas Carol and a Dickens of an update it is ... The often tongue-in-cheek/often poignant slant on the holiday classic is ... enough to make this an annual event." -Backstage West

THE STORY: Famous the world over, the often bizarre and ultimately heart-warming story of Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and the others needs no detailing here. Mr. Horovitz's adaptation follows the Dickens original scrupulously but, in bringing i