Attenborough, Hendrickson, Long, Jermond and Vick to Star in West End's Dickens Unplugged | Playbill

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News Attenborough, Hendrickson, Long, Jermond and Vick to Star in West End's Dickens Unplugged Dickens Unplugged, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007, is heading to the West End's Comedy Theatre. Performances will begin May 23 with an official opening June 9.

The production is billed as a new musical comedy and is written and directed by Adam Long, a founding member of The Reduced Shakespeare Company. The cast includes Joseph Attenborough, Matthew Hendrickson, Simon Jermond, Adam Long and Gabriel Vick.

The show is described in press materials as an hilarious journey through the best of Dickens' classic works and into the twisted corners of the author's colorful life — following him from his bleak childhood to his complicated marriage, numerous children and his final years. With instruments from acoustic guitar to accordion and harmonica to horns, and using an incredible mix of musical styles, the cast give voice to a host of Dickens' most eccentric and loved characters. Oliver Twist, Tiny Tim, David Copperfield, Miss Havisham, Charles Darnay and many more appear in Long's 20 original songs, which include "Aint Goin Back To Blackin'" and "Far Far Better Thing."

From 1987-2003, Long co-wrote and performed in the shows The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) and The Complete History of America (abridged) (both seen in rep at the Criterion Theatre), "The Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show" for the BBC World Service, and "The Ring Reduced," a 30-minute version of Wagner's Ring Cycle, for Channel 4 television. In 1996 Long directed the London production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), which was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 1997, and ran for nine years at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. Long subsequently co-wrote and starred in "The Barn," which won a British Independent Film Award in 2004 - The Raindance Award, for the film which best embodies the spirit of independent filmmaking. In 2006 he wrote and performed "Star Wars Shortened" for Lucasfilm and BskyB, and "The Condensed History of Tony Blair" for BBC Radio 4. He is currently writing the condensed histories of the major British political parties, also for BBC Radio 4, for broadcast in summer 2008.

Dickens Unplugged is produced by Mark Goucher and Wimpole Theatre in association with the Araca Group in New York.

For tickets contact the box office at 0844 847 1545 or visit www.dickensunplugged.com.

 
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