Dickensblog

A virtual 'Chimes'

Tomorrow (Friday) at 5 p.m. GMT/12 p.m. Eastern, the Dickens Museum will host a Zoom performance of The Chimes by actor Dominic Gerrard. Gerrard and Lucinda Dickens Hawksley will take questions after the performance. Go here to learn more and to buy tickets!

Stream the Goodman's 'A Christmas Carol'

The bad news is, Chicago's Goodman Theatre was forced to end its annual run of A Christmas Carol early because of COVID-19. The good news is, they've made it available to stream online through January 14! Go here to purchase a $25 ticket. 

R.I.P., Sally Ann Howes

The British actress played Kate in the 1947 film The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Sally Ann Howes passed away December 19 at the age of 91.

Finding our role in 'A Christmas Carol'

Merry Christmas! This year, I thought I'd share this piece by actress Jennifer Vosters on her time playing the Ghost of Christmas Present both before and during the pandemic, and what it has meant to her. A sample:

"While not overtly religious, A Christmas Carol draws on Gospel themes: the dangers of greed, the blessings of community, the obligation for generosity, the need for redemption. It reminds us how easy it is to find ourselves fettered like Scrooge and Marley: cloistered in a mindset of scarcity, hoarding our resources, ignoring our neighbors, shunning vulnerability and connection, blaming others for problems we have the power to fix.

"But we can cast ourselves in a different role. We can be Present, pointing out the potential of every moment, every day. We can be Fred, who never gives up his optimism and never gives up on his uncle. Or better yet, we can be Scrooge on Christmas morning, who claims his chance at a better version of himself, who acknowledges his sins and immediately does the work to make amends, who gives freely and laughs readily and forges community wherever he goes."

How to listen to the 'Carol'

Book Riot has a helpful rundown of some of the best audio versions, with readers/narrators ranging from Orson Welles to Kathleen Turner!

'This coddling nonsense'

Over at Jane Austen's Wastebasket (great name!), Amy Colleen takes a humorous look at how the London business community might have seen Scrooge's redemption.

Jewish perspectives on 'A Christmas Carol'

Seth Rogovoy at Forward offers an intriguing survey of different Jewish interpretations of Dickens's story. 

Touched by an angel

Could Dickens have had some angelic pushback on his Carol? James Cary's witty article in the Church Times speculates on the possibility!

Need a cocktail for Christmas?

Dickens has you covered! Here's his punch recipe, courtesy of Gastro Obscura.

Spotlight on 'The Cricket'

The Dickens Museum is displaying some of John Leech's sketches for The Cricket on the Hearth, to remind visitors that Dickens wrote more than one Christmas book! The Guardian has an article about the exhibit and the book, with quotes from Lucinda Dickens Hawksley about this and her ancestor's other Christmas books.