Christmas with Dickens

November 17, 2020

Join us on Sunday, December 13th at 4 pm for a performance you won't want to miss!

Charles Dickens just wants to talk about his book, A Christmas Carol, but what happens when spirits begin to show up? Is Dickens being guilt-tripped by his estranged wife, Catherine; haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Present; regretting his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge? And what is Queen Victoria doing there? It's full of chaos, confusion, conflict, and complaints, just like a typical holiday gathering.

The UCSC Dickens Project presents, via Zoom, an original reader's theater piece written by JoAnna Rottke and directed by Karen Schamberg. Readers are Andrew Davids as Charles Dickens, Frank Widman as Ebenezer Scrooge, Martha Rabin as Queen Victoria, Sarah Kauffman Michael as Catherine Dickens, Chris Rich as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Mark Messersmith as the Reader. A Q&A session follows the performance.

 


JoAnna Rottke seated next to a Christmas tree with her three dogs, Buster, ChaCha, and Tallulah

 

JoAnna Rottke spent her best years as Assistant Director of the Dickens Project, a research program at UCSC devoted to the life and works of Charles Dickens. She knows more about Dickens than she’d like to admit. JoAnna now works as an Adoption Counselor for the Santa Cruz SPCA and is a huge fan of tiny dogs.