Pickwick & Nickleby (Part 4/8)

This is a sound-only version of my one-man show, which was performed in November 2010 at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge. With the exception of the Vincent Crummles preamble, I recorded this fairly early in the rehearsal process, hoping to gauge my progress and (more importantly) assist with line-learning. As such, it's not as polished or technically proficient as I hope the show became, and lacks the handy visual lift of mass grimacing and gesticulation. My voice was in a fairly ropey and inflexible state after a few weeks of creative shouting at The York Dungeon, and the audio quality isn't all that good. But enough excuses! This is the only relic of the show I have left, so I'm more than happy to share it!


Here's the blurb that I wrote for the theatre brochure:


One actor. Two stories. Twenty characters.

Based on the public readings of Charles Dickens, Pickwick & Nickleby promises a night of absolute insanity with a sound literary basis. First enter the nineteenth-century courtroom for a gripping case of thwarted marriage, scorned passion and the sordid truth about warming-pans. Pickwick stands trial, Buzfuz gets contentious and the Judge is deadly drunk. Then it's off to darkest Yorkshire for a class with Wackford Squeers. Deduce the regional spelling for 'window' or he'll take the skin off your back... As though spearheading some crazed Victorian séance, one desperate actor will resort to every trick imaginable to lure Dickens's ghost to the stage.

Come bask in the humour, horror and boundless heart of England's greatest comic writer. It's the character actor's audition from hell, and you'd be mad to miss it.


If you're at all interested in the show's development, I warmly invite you to read the production diary! Here it is: www.pickwickandnickleby.blogspot.com

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Pickwick
• Papers
• Club
• Nicholas
• Nickleby
• Life
• Adventures
• Vincent
• Crummles
• Bardell
• Yorkshire
• School
• Charles
• Dickens
• Public
• Readings
• Serjeant
• Buzfuz
• Skimpin
• Cluppins
• Snubbin
• Justice
• Stareleigh
• Sam
• Samuel
• Weller
• Nathaniel
• Winkle
• Dodson
• Fogg
• Snodgrass
• Tupman
• Mr
• Mister
• Mrs
• Lawyer
• Law
• Judge
• Court
• Trial
• Novel
• Reading
• Dramatic
• One
• Man
• Show
• ADC
• Theatre
• James
• Swanton
• Cambridge
• University