Ebeneeza gives its audience views of Christmas feasts, Chanukah rituals and Kwanzaa celebrations. The title character, Ebeneeza, is a 77-year-old woman, descended from Italian immigrant parents, who has made her money in Hartford real estate. Our “Bob Cratchit” is a West Indian Certified Nursing Assistant and Ebeneeza’s home care aid. She is a single mother with a son who suffers from severe asthma and ADHD.

Ebeneeza is visited by three ghosts in the course of the evening, including a popular appearance by Mark Twain as the ghost of Holidays Past. As Dickens would have it, Ebeneeza wakes up from her horrible night and realizes she still has a chance to change not only her ways but also the course of her community.

Ebeneeza was jointly written by Co-Artistic Directors Julia Rosenblatt, Gregory Tate and Steven Ginsburg. They conducted hundreds of hours of interviews and research on Front Street before it was torn down to make way for Constitution Plaza, activists who lived through the riots in Hartford’s North End in the 60s, and local women who broke early barriers in business. The result of this process was a rich exploration of Hartford’s past, present and future, told through multiple perspectives and created collaboratively in the joint vision of the Co-Artistic Directors and Director Brian Jennings.

Ebeneeza has become a beloved Hartford holiday tradition since it’s premiere in 2006 at the Charter Oak Cultural Center. In 2009 and 2010 Ebeneeza went on tour, playing at the Mark Twain House & Museum, Kinsella Magnet School of the Performing Arts, the West Indian Social Club, and Playhouse on Park. All Hartford performances were free to audiences.