Reader Reviews
The Mystery of Charles Dickens (Playhouse Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | I was in London in November, wanted to go to the theatre and found it was the last night of Simon Callow's performance about Dickens. What a great evening and such an excellant actor. Living in the "colonies" one really misses top class theatre. - Gina Kirby | 20 Dec 12 |
| Earlier this year Simon Callow performed his excellent one-man show about Shakespeare and now he's back with something very similar about Dickens. If anything it's even better because much more is known about Dickens' highly eventful life and it's superbly conveyed through Peter Ackroyd's vibrant script and Callow's evident passion for his subject. The show follows a chronology of Dickens' life, parts of which had unexpected resonance, illustrated with expertly chosen extracts from the novels brilliantly performed by Callow inhabiting a vast range of characters. This is clearly a labour of love portraying not only one of our greatest novelists but also possibly one of the best actors of the Victorian era and it is a pleasure to share Callow's enthusiasm for a man who, despite his many personal flaws, is clearly a hero of his. - David Baxter | 01 Nov 12 |
| YES! Simon Callow gave it his all, and his all is stunningly brilliant, excellent, powerful and thrilling; this is what I picked up from the audience, not just from my own view (I do admire Dickens legacy and am involved, so am somewhat biased). Peter Ackroyd's book was deeply researched and excellently written, so there is not much new in terms of detail, but what there is- is the vehicle for Simon Callow to to present Dickens in the way we know he was- the brilliantly inspired genius, haunted and twisted by fears, anxieties and even terror, spurred on by international fame and success in literature, reform and acting, sadly weakened by poor health, depression and failure in marriage and frustration with his children. Simon takes us through all this, and at a fierce fast pace- he presents so many different characters with the same, passionate expertise that Dickens used to hold his audience spellbound- he holds us in the palm of his hand, having the same eye contact with the audience that Dickens had. We may never see a better imitation of the great man's legendary stage presence than Maestro Simon presents- if you want to learn more about the mystery which is Dickens, go forth and learn about it. - charlesdickenslondon | 29 Sep 12 |
