Opening night for a sold-out show had to be saved, after all, but one actor quit the show.

The result is a comical take on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

Not wanting to refund the tickets for a sold-out opening night, the curmudgeonly producer declares that the show must go on. The lone remaining cast member, not wanting to disappoint the throngs of children with their moms and dads who have filled the theatre, agrees to help out. Together, they take to the stage and perform the entire play themselves.

Monster Theatre's production features more than 50 characters, puppets, songs, dance numbers, and flying ghosts, all performed by just two actors.

The play, written by and featuring Ryan Gladstone and Maple Ridge's Tara Travis takes place at The ACT just before the Santa

Claus Parade in downtown Maple Ridge.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was first published as a novella in 1843. The story tells of a mean-spirited, miserly old man, Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

The play is put on by Monster Theatre on Dec. 1 just before the Christmas festivities, and is recommended for ages five and up.

A Christmas Carol is at The ACT on Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. Tickets start at $13, and a family four-pack is $45. Tickets are available in person at The ACT Ticket Centre, by calling 604-476-2787, or at www. theactmapleridge.org.