Name: A reading of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"
Start: 2025-12-17T19:00:00-05:00
Location: Hunterdon County Library

A Reading of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”
“A Christmas Carol” is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a shrewd miser visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come in an attempt at redeeming his selfish life.
Charles Dickens believed that nobody was beyond redemption and being a favorite of Ken, he will bring the story to life as a Victorian gentleman sharing the tale in a one-man show giving voice to the spirits and characters of Dicken’s work of art. As the story ends, you may find yourself taken in and leave hopeful that your spirit has been refreshed.
Published in December 1843, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was an instant bestseller, followed by countless print, stage and screen productions. Victorians called it “a new gospel,” and reading or watching it became a sacred ritual for many, without which the Christmas season cannot begin.
Dickens’ performances of his works date to the early 1850s, when he was already quite successful, and lasted up until the final months of his life in 1870. He toured England, Ireland, Scotland, played in Paris, and even brought the show to the States to great acclaim, making the story an American tradition from then on.
His last American performance was in New York City, at Steinway Hall, in 1868. Dickens had acted in the theater throughout much of his life, even into his career as a prominent writer, and brought that training and experience to his readings. He’d appear on stage illuminated by gas lamps and would stand at a reading desk he had specially made for his appearances. Though he had the book for reference, it was also said he memorized the work as if acting in the theater.
Ken hopes to bring you back into the 19th century tonight and share in the Christmas Ghost Story of Charles Dickens.