First presented at the worldwide Dickens Fellowship Conference in Cleveland OH. in 2010, this program tells the story of Dickens’ little-known visit to the Buckeye State in April 1842, during the first of his
2 trips to the United States. In just a few days he went to most parts of Ohio, traveling by various means. On the steamboat “The Messenger”, he went the length of the Ohio River from Pittsburgh; in a stagecoach from Cincinnati, via Columbus to Tiffin; on Ohio’s first railway from Tiffin to Sandusky on the Lake; then by lakeboat from Sandusky to Cleveland. A large period map of the state helps the audience keep track of his travels.
Dickens was as popular as a modern rockstar at the time and he wrote about his journey in “American Notes for General Circulation”.
Roger’s ability with American accents is splendidly displayed as he impersonates 10 of the individuals whom Dickens met in Ohio. The show also includes 14 songs of the period, which the audience can join in with. There are vivid illustrations of attitudes to such things as spitting, Native Americans, slavery, attitudes to Britain in pre-Civil War America, immigrants, temperance, etc..
This is an informative program which presents history in a lively and unusual way.
ROGER JEROME
