Sue Sitter/PCT Ebeneezer Scrooge, played by Michael Hurly, sits on a stage under construction at the Village Arts Center. He had no comment other than “Bah, humbug!”

Unfazed by a few challenges, Trista Busche of Village Arts said she’s looking forward to bringing “A Christmas Carol” to stage. The play opened Friday, Dec. 10, and continues Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 11 and 12.

Busche, who co-directs the play with Chelsea McBeth, has coped with practice in the Village Arts Center’s basement as the stage area undergoes renovation. She’s also directed practices by herself from Thanksgiving through the beginning of December. McBeth, who had contracted COVID on a visit to her parents in Canada, stayed quarantined north of the border until she had the go-ahead to cross Dec. 5.

Still, Busche stayed in an upbeat mood, enthused by the chance to be where she’s always loved to be – onstage. In addition to directing with McBeth, Busche plays the role of Bob Cratchit’s wife.

Busche said she hadn’t performed in “A Christmas Carol” before, but McBeth had played the Ghost of Christmas Past in a prior performance. McBeth will play the role of Mrs. Fezziwig in the Village Arts performance.

Busche described Mrs. Cratchit as “the ultimate supporting wife. One of my favorite lines that she says is when her husband tries to lift his glass in a Christmas toast to Ebeneezer Scrooge and she immediately rolls her eyes and says, ‘Excuse me, he’s mean to you every single day, and you’re going to bring him into my Christmas?’ That’s my favorite thing I get to say in the whole show.”

“In my memory, Rugby has never done a Christmas play before,” Busche said of Village Arts. “It’s always been a summer production. Usually during the Christmas season, Village Arts has choir concerts and orchestra concerts, which are beautiful.”

“But since we didn’t get to do a summer show this year, we really wanted to do something,” Busche added. “So, we decided on something for Christmas. The first thing that came to mind was ‘A Christmas Carol,’ a standard Christmas play. What I’m most excited about is this is the first production done in the new Village Arts Center on the brand new stage. So, it’s an honor to be the one to direct the play that’s breaking it in.”

“We had auditions back in mid-September and at that time, we still didn’t have our stage completed to work on but everyone was a real champion,” Busche said. “We practiced pretty much anywhere we could, like the basement. And once we got to move onto the stage, it was really great to see everyone be able to immediately translate everything from the practice space onto the actual space.”

Busche said the stage should be finished in time for the performances.

“I grew up in Village Arts,” Busche said. “In my first Village Arts play, I was five years old.” Busche, who grew up in Rugby, graduated from Rugby High, moved away for college and has returned to Rugby. “And immediately, the first thing I wanted to do was get involved in Village Arts again,” Busche said of her return. “My memories from Village Arts completely formed who I was as a person. So, to be able to be a part of the next generation bringing it into this new age and new day is so exciting for me.”

“I’m seeing a lot of new faces and a lot of old faces and a lot of people who look at me and say I look familiar,” Busche added.

Busche said her favorite part about the Village Arts “Christmas Carol” performance “is that we have a lot of kids in the play.”

High school students and younger children have roles in the performance.

“My favorite part is working with elementary-age students and hopefully awaken a love of theater in them and have them come back year after year,” Busche said, smiling enthusiastically. “Because it’s only when people come back do we keep having fun year after year.”

Busche said the performance will have a unique feature. “A 15-person choir will provide music to set the mood during scene transitions. They’ll do this as well as providing the ambiance music before and after the performance and during intermission,” she said, pointing to three rows of chairs to the right of the stage.

“That’s a new thing that’s never been done,” Busche noted. “There have been performances with an orchestra in a pit, but here, we have them right onstage almost Greek chorus-style.”

Busche said a violinist would also provide fiddle music during scenes such as Fezziwig’s Christmas party.

Michael Hurly plays the part of Scrooge. In full character, he begrudgingly sat for a photo. However, he only had one comment on the play.

“Bah, humbug!” He said.

Tickets for “A Christmas Carol” are available by calling 776-2787. Performances on Dec. 10, 11 and 12 are at 7 p.m., with a matinee performance Dec. 11 at 1 p.m.