By Mary Ann Bourbeau
RED BANK – The Historic Village at Allaire is presenting its first off-site theatrical fundraiser and it’s a pretty big deal. Gerald Charles Dickens, the great-great-grandson of English literary icon Charles Dickens, will present his one-man show of “A Christmas Carol” at The Vogel at the Count Basie Center for the Arts. This captivating rendition of the classic holiday tale will take place Monday, Dec. 4 at 3 and 7 p.m.
“We are so honored to have Gerald Charles Dickens perform for Allaire Village,” said Hance M. Sitkus, executive director of Allaire Village, a nonprofit organization located in Wall Township. “It’s a magical show and reflects perfectly the time period when Allaire Village existed in the 1800s.”
Gerald Dickens, an actor and producer who hails from Oxford, England said for many years, he avoided anything to do with his famous ancestor “like the plague.” But in 1993, a friend asked him to do a reading of “A Christmas Carol” for the 150th anniversary of the story’s 1843 publication. It was a fundraiser for a historical restoration project.
“There was a lot of publicity about the 150th anniversary at that time,” said Dickens. “Someone suggested I do a Dickensian reading of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ the way my great-great-grandfather did it in the 1800s. I didn’t know how I would make a Victorian reading interesting, but when I started working on it I realized all the characters were so theatrical. It was such fun to develop this show. I haven’t looked back since.”
Dickens’ love of theater blossomed at the age of 9 when he took on the role of a rooster in his school’s Nativity play.
“The costume was so big,” he said. “When I walked on stage, everyone laughed, but it was a wonderful sound to me. I was very shy and insecure, not outgoing at all. I discovered that being on stage allowed me to be confident.”
In 1867, Charles Dickens toured the United States, reading his literary works before spellbound audiences; “A Christmas Carol” was reportedly his favorite piece to perform. He adored theater and originally wanted to be an actor, but for practical purposes, he pursued a career in writing instead.
“To me, the main thing that connects us is our love of theater,” said Gerald Dickens, who bears more than a passing resemblance to his great-great-grandfather.
During the one-man show, Dickens conjures the story of “A Christmas Carol” with just a table, a wing chair and a hat rack on stage. He convincingly brings to life 26 different characters in this timeless story by using various voices and postures.
“When I first started, I asked my dad how to do this because he’s a big Dickens scholar,” said Dickens. “He said, ‘Don’t try too hard because Charles Dickens did all the work for you. He didn’t just give you dialogue and a story; he fleshed out the characters so much that they just come alive.’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ is so well known that people just lose themselves in the characters and the emotion and the situation.”
The week of the Basie performances marks the 30th anniversary of Gerald Charles Dickens’ first reading of “A Christmas Carol.” For him, it’s a happy coincidence that the Basie shows are also a fundraiser for a historic organization, as his very first show was.
“It’s a wonderful way to celebrate that journey and bring full circle how it all started,” he said. “And it’s a fun show, not academic or desperately wordy. As an actor, you can’t get better material than this.”
“A Christmas Carol” will be performed at 3 and 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4 at The Vogel, located in the Count Basie Center for the Arts, 99 Monmouth St., Red Bank. Tickets are $100 to $130. For more information, visit thebasie.org.
This article originally appeared in the November 30 – December 6, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
