On November 30 2014 at 2:00pm, The Historical Christmas Barn and The Wilton Historical Society will present A Christmas Carol at the Clune Center For The Arts at Wilton High School in Wilton CT. This heartwarming show-of-the-season is performed by Gerald Charles Dickens, the great-great grandson of literary master, Charles Dickens. Gerald, an actor and producer hailing from Oxford, England, will be performing his captivating rendition of this timeless holiday classic.
Gerald bears more than a passing resemblance to his famous ancestor, who originally toured the U.S. in 1867 reading his literary works before spellbound audiences. The historians report that A Christmas Carol was his favorite piece to perform. According to Gerald, his great-great grandfather adored theater and initially wanted to be an actor but pursued writing as a career for practical purposes. For many years Gerald says that he himself "avoided anything to do with Dickens like the plague." But in 1993 when a friend asked him to do a reading of A Christmas Carol on its 150th anniversary of publication to help raise money for a historical restoration project, he couldn't turn him down. To his surprise, he enjoyed doing it and has been delighting audiences around the world with his rendition ever since.
During his energetic one-man show, Dickens brings A Christmas Carol to life. He leaps, he sobs, he laughs as he entertains depicting 26 characters of the classic tale, with just a table, wing chair, and hat rack accompanying him on stage. "It's a wonderful show--a great family tradition--the best way I know of to kick off the holiday season", says Bob Byers, President of Byers' Choice Ltd., the sponsor for Mr Dickens' U.S. tour.
Mr. Dickens returns to the U.S. for his 2014 tour that will take him to several states across the country. He will transform theaters into scenes straight out of the classic holiday tale, much as Scrooge was transformed from a dispirited miser to a joyous soul after his Christmas Eve encounter with ghosts from the past, present and future.