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Dr Marigold & Mr Chops

Dr Marigold & Mr Chops

Simon Callow is a virtuoso storyteller who has already presented the life of Britain’s greatest novelist in The Mystery of Charles Dickens in both the West End and on Broadway. Read more …

Now he brings to life two one-man plays by Charles Dickens after a sell-out London run. In an absorbing theatrical event he tells the stories of Dr Marigold, a travelling salesman who adopts a little deaf and dumb girl and Mr Chops, a freak-show turn who wins the lottery and a place in society. Adapted by Patrick Garland, these masterpieces, which were hugely popular when Dickens himself performed them on his famed reading tours, provide a masterly blend of the comic, bizarre and poignant that is classic Dickens.

Simon Callow recently played Pozzo in Waiting for Godot and has starred in the Oscar-winning films A Room with a View, Howard's End and Shakespeare in Love.


The critical consensus

There is, it must be admitted, a certain air of quaintness about a show like Dr Marigold & Mr Chops, which is an unashamedly old-fashioned entertainment. But this charming evening proves hard to resist, serving as a reminder of the rich humanity of Dickens’s writing and a demonstration of the skills of an actor whose sheer delight in performance is palpable and infectious.

****(*)Alex Ramon, The Public Reviews, 13/09/2011

The show is a tour de force, in which bravura technical skill is combined with a profound understanding of both Dickens’s art and what it means to be fully human.

*****Charles Spencer, The Telegraph, 27/09/2011

S'is Dickens, and for all Callow's skillful underplaying the schmaltz is not optional.

***(*)(*)Alex Johnston, The List, 02/11/2011

For anyone who’d like to understand what all the fuss about Dickens is, this is a good place to start.

*****Josie Balfour, The Scotsman, 03/11/2011

You can’t help but feel another actor might have come to this project with a more jaded and cynical eye. But as long as you go along to this show without great expectations (sorry), you won’t be disappointed.

***(*)(*)Neil, TV Bomb, 03/11/2011

It’s exquisitely done, though better suited to the short attention span of the Fringe than a substantial evening out. A minor pleasure all the same.

***(*)(*)Mark Fisher, The Scotsman, 04/11/2011

The combination of Dickens and Callow is indeed a brilliant one, layered and poignant, drawing tears and laughter, and full of life.

*****Danielle Farrlow, Edinburgh Spotlight, 04/11/2011

Where and when?

King's Theatre, Edinburgh from Tuesday November 1, 2011, until Saturday November 5, 2011. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/kings

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