Charles Dickens’ great-great grandson is returning to Llandrindod Wells to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his first performance of a Christmas Carol.
Gerald Dickens will be performing at the Albert Hall in Llandrindod Wells as part of the Llandrindod Wells Victorian Festival once again and say it has “become a real feature of my year” and will be performing a Christmas Carol as part of this year’s “Christmas in August” theme.
Whilst Gerald had always loved the theatre from the young age, he only did a reading of a Christmas Carol as part of a charity event.
“For a long time, I very purposefully ignored Dickens and didn’t do anything connected. I was doing my own thing and making my own way,” said Gerald.
“But in 1993 it was the 150th anniversary of the publication of the book. Someone came to me suggesting I did a reading of a Christmas carol in the same way Charles Dickens had given readings.
“I didn’t really want to do it if I’m absolutely honest but because it was for charity, I agreed to do it and quite reluctantly started to prepare for it.
"But then I discovered for an actor this was just the most amazing script, it was amazing to perform and suddenly I was absolutely hooked.”
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“It was only after I did it I realised how much of theatrical person Charles Dickens was.
"He loved touring and performing and that was the real connection, that was the first time I really felt it. He had never really done it for me as an author but when I discovered his theatrical side it made a lot of sense.”
This will be the start of Gerald’s anniversary season and the intervening years have seen him develop his show and perform a number of the most famous works including Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickelby, a Tale of Two Cities as well as some of his short stories.
The current show is a one-man show using only minimal furniture and Gerald says the Albert Hall fits well for the show.
“There is so much there that translates to stage really well and the Albert Hall is the perfect place, it’s such a great theatre, the atmosphere is so appropriate for this kind of show,” said Gerald.
“The descriptions in the book give you everything you need to perform. You just read aloud the description and you just become that character. He gives you the voice, he gives you the face, he gives you the way of standing, the way of moving – it is all there.”
His performance at the Albert Hall will be on Tuesday August 22, tickets cost £20 and can be purchased by emailing: tickets.victorianfestival@gmail.com.
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