Charles Dickens' Great-Great-Great Granddaughter Is Highlight Of Park Theatre's DICKENS FEST
The festival runs from Wednesday, December 6 through Sunday, December 10.
The Park Theatre in Jaffrey announced today their production of the first annual New England Dickens Fest. The festival honors the celebrated British author with five days of holiday concerts, stage plays, movies, contests, craft & food fair, and much more. The festival runs from Wednesday, December 6 through Sunday, December 10.
A major highlight is on Thursday night, December 7 at 7 pm. It is entitled “An Evening with Mr. Dickens.” The evening is hosted by Charles Dickens expert and great-great-great granddaughter of Mr. Dickens, Lucinda Dickens Hawksley. She will lead readings of Dickens' A Christmas Carol with actors Lisa Bostnar and Ken Sheldon. Lucinda has written many award-winning books on Dickens as well as the Victorian era. She lectures worldwide on her beloved relative, whose classic books include Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. A talkback Q&A with Lucinda and the cast will follow the event.
Other events include Project Shakespeare's debut of their 2023 production of A Christmas Carol, The Granite (Bell) Ringers Holiday Concert, Ashuelot Concerts' Mendelssohn, Schubert, Beethoven & Schumann Solo Piano Works, The NH Gay Men's Chorus “Holly, Jolly, Folly!” Concert, Lindsay & Her Holiday Puppet Pals, and the Kazoo Caroling Choir. Contests include Ebenezer's Best Whiskers & Beard Contest and Miss Havisham's Brass Bed Race.
Movies include the critically acclaimed 1968 production of the musical Oliver!, and the recent film about Dickens, The Man Who Invented Christmas. Both movies will be shown on The Park's giant 27-foot wide screen with 17-speaker surround sound. There will also be craft and food vendors from around the Monadnock regions and carriage rides.
Regional restaurants will be adding special Dickens Fest items to their menus. The Park Theatre will be selling a special “Dickens Grog” mulled warm wine in a commemorative mug.
New England Dickens Fest is made possible from an underwriting sponsorship from M&T Bank.
“We are so excited to produce this new annual multi-day holiday festival in honor of Charles Dickens. We hope to bring folks from all over New England to our great town with a broad mix of entertainment, food, crafts and contests. It will be an event filled with community spirit. We are fortunate to have M&T Bank as the sponsor. They understand the value of events such as this and what lasting impressions and memories are made,” said Steve Jackson, CEO & Managing Director of The Park Theatre.
Ticketed events can be purchased in advance, whether online at theparktheatre.org/dickensfest/ or by calling the box office at (603) 532-8888. Tickets will also be for sale at the box office before the screening.
The Park Theatre is located at 19 Main Street in downtown Jaffrey, NH, just 95 minutes from downtown Boston. The facility is completely accessible.
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