New play coming to Manchester sees Charles Dickens haunted by his mistreatment of the women in his life

Manchester was an important city for Dickens as he gave many of his famous readings here and it was during a series of performances at the Free Trade Hall (now the Radisson Hotel) that his relationship with the 19-year-old actress, Ellen (Nelly) Ternan, took place.

In The Telling’s new show,Charles Dickens is giving one of his acclaimed theatrical readings of A Christmas Carol but it isn’t going to plan.

He finds himself re-cast as Scrooge, with his past, present and future being played out, as presented by two women he mistreated: his wife Catherine and his mistress, the actress Ellen Ternan, who was only 19 when Dickens first approached her at the age of 45.

The playwright, Clare Norburn, won the Colin Skipp Memorial Cup at the Arts Richmond Radio Playwriting Competition last year for her radio play ‘The End. Roll Credits’, about TV playwright Dennis Potter’s famous TV interview with Melvyn Bragg.

Since 2010, Norburn has been developing a new genre of ‘concertplays’ which seamlessly combine music and theatre.

Clare goes on to explain the unusual premise of the show: “In What the Dickens?,  I’ve reimagined Charles Dickens’ classic ‘A Christmas Carol’, taking inspiration from the secrets of Dickens’ life: his secret mistress, his terrible treatment of his wife and his early life as a boy working in a factory which made shoe blacking, of which he was deeply ashamed. I have also drawn on how unwell and febrile he was in his final years: he put so much energy into his theatrical readings that he would often collapse afterwards in the wings. So, I have used all those elements to overlay the familiar story we all know of ‘A Christmas Carol’, with Dickens himself being forced to re-evaluate his life and the impact of his actions. Given Manchester was such an important city for Dickens, we are thrilled to be bringing the show to Hallé St Peter’s in Ancoats.”

Dickens’ carefully managed image as a family man, who created the very quintessence of Christmas, starts to unravel. He is haunted by the women he mistreated: his wife and mother of his ten children, Catherine, and his young mistress, actress Ellen (Nelly) Ternan who was only 19 when Dickens first approached her at the age of 45. They strip aside the jovial public family image Dickens has tried to maintain and force him to face up to his past, present and future. Can Dickens learn from the ghosts, repent and be saved – as Scrooge was saved?

Tickets for the Manchester performance cost £20/£16/£5 and are available to book online now at www.thetelling.co.uk/dickens-mcr