Dickens comes to Nashua to read ‘A Christmas Carol’

NASHUA – Gerald Charles Dickens, great-great-grandson of the immortal Charles Dickens, doesn’t really remember a lot of talk in the family about his illustrious forebear as he was growing up.

“We were all aware of him, of course, but it wasn’t a general topic of family conversation,” he said.

Of course, all of that has changed. Dickens will be performing the classic “A Christmas Carol” in Nashua twice on Thursday, Dec. 3. The event is sponsored by Fortin Gage Flowers and Gifts, florists who have been serving the Nashua community for more than 70 years. The performances will also include nonperishable food drives to benefit the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Nashua Pastoral Care Center.

As it was, Dickens really wasn’t that fond of his ancestor’s works as a lad.

“I had to read ‘Oliver Twist’ in school,” he admitted, “and I absolutely hated it. It wasn’t until later, when I attended an eight-hour performance of ‘Nicholas Nickleby,’ that I actually got it. The characters are so theatrical that they really come to life on the stage.”

It is that same sense of theatricality that Dickens brings to his reading of “A Christmas Carol,” which is really more of a performance than a recitation.

“My great-great grandfather always used a prompt copy,” he said. “A lot of the expository information was left out, putting more emphasis on the dialogue. As it was, it would take him about an hour-and-a-half to perform it. If you were to read the unabridged version, it would take you three-and-a-half hours. Sometimes, he’d omit a minor character or event, but the focus of the piece remained intact. My version runs about the same length, but I’m a very physical performer; I try to engage the audience directly and bring them into the action.”

The tradition of reading “A Christmas Carol” aloud to audiences has a long history. The original Charles Dickens embarked on a number of readings beginning in the 1850s, his own theatrical side shining through in his performances. In 1853, the working men of Birmingham presented him with a silver-gilt salver and a diamond ring in testimony of their esteem. In return, Dickens promised to read “A Christmas Carol” on Dec. 29 of that year, stating “I shall read the ‘Carol’ to two thousand working people – stipulating that they shall have that night entirely to themselves.”

For those few unfamiliar with the themes of “A Christmas Carol,” it basically centers on the character of the mean old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited one night by the phantom of his late partner, Jacob Marley. Marley chides Scrooge on his materialistic and uncharitable ways, warning him that, should he not reform, endless agony will follow him until the end of time. Following quickly on Marley’s chained-and-padlocked heels are the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future, who review his sad childhood, the revelries of the present that surround him and the ghastly consequences that will befall him unless he changes his ways. By the end, Scrooge is a fully reformed man, redolent with charity and goodwill and openly embracing the spirit of Christmas.

During the length of the performance, Dickens will assay 26 characters from the piece, his only props being a table, wing chair and hatrack. His stop in Nashua is part of a nationwide tour that will take him to seven states from New England to the Mid-Atlantic.

So, is it going to be hard, being away from the family on Christmas Day?

“Oh no, I’ll be back by then – just,” he said. “We’re doing the whole thing – turkey, plum pudding, the works.”

Dickens feels that the messages of “A Christmas Carol” resonate with modern audiences in a unique and valuable way. “Really, all of the characters in the piece can be seen in ourselves,” he said. “Who hasn’t been a little like Scrooge

sometimes – all grumpy about the Christmas season and cringing at the sight of decorations? Then again, there’s something of Bob Cratchit in there as well, when he celebrates the day with his family. Really, it’s timeless. All of these emotions stay with us throughout the years.”

When asked what his favorite scene in the play is, Dickens says without any hesitation that it has to be where the reformed Scrooge goes to visit his nephew on Christmas Day.

“It’s the anticipation of the thing,” he said.

“The happiness at the party and the way it contrasts to the dire events that Scrooge has experienced the night before. It’s really the big payoff.”

Dickens is all too aware of the various versions of the story that people have encountered over the years. He actually went to see the new animated Disney version recently – “It’s really impossible not to get swept away by the story, however it’s told” – but has a soft spot for the 1951 British version starring Alastair Sim. “Now, that’s a classic,” he said.

Dickens feels that a food drive is involved is particularly appropriate.

“That would have been very close to my great-great grandfather’s heart,” he said. “A concern about charity and the plight of the poor resonates throughout all of his works.”

After the U.S. tour, Dickens is slated to perform at a cancer research benefit to be held in Liverpool, England, followed by areturn to his family and seasonal celebrations.

Many people would find the prospect of a cross-country tour to be daunting, but Dickens actually seems to be relishing it.

“Really, it’s magical,” he said. “I get to experience Christmas every night for a month. How could you ask more than that?”