What the Dickens…

Gerald Dickens as the author....tonight!

This is cool – the guy doing the Dickens show tonight at the Community Theatre is related to the author, and Joanruth from the island’s relatives are from the same neighborhood. Here’s more from Jan at the Theatre:

When Charles Dickens’ great-great grandson brings his one-man show, Mr. Dickens is Coming! to San Juan Community Theatre this Monday at 7:30 p.m., he won’t be the only one with family history to share from the times of Dickens.

Friday Harbor resident Joanruth Baumann’s great-great grandmother and her daughter, Isabelle were neighbors of Charles Dickens–living the same “Oliver Twist” childhood that Dickens wrote so much about.  Joanruth says her great grandmother, Isabelle Bird, lived in Portsea (a subset of Portsmouth), about a mile from Dickens.  She was orphaned at age 13 in the poorhouse and was sent out to work as an indentured servant, like so many teenage orphans were forced to do.  Isabelle eventually escaped servitude and was able to board a boat heading for Texas where she married an Englishman.

“I’ve always felt a connection to Dickens,” said Joanruth.  “It’s interesting to know that the social conditions he was writing about are connected to someone’s own family half way around the world–right here on the island.”

In Mr. Dickens is Coming!, Gerald Dickens will share a varied and entertaining look at the life of the author, using characters, diary extracts and observations from those who lived and worked with him, as well as Gerald’s own 21^st-century views.

Gerald regularly performs in major theaters and arts centers as well as at hotels and stately homes.  He has appeared at several arts and literary festivals in the UK and has been entertaining cruise ship passengers worldwide since 2007.

The Business Partner for the evening is Griffin Bay Bookstore.  Tickets are $16 for adults, $8 for student reserved with $5 RUSH at the door.  

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