Simon Callow's acclaimed one-man show about Charles Dickens, written by London expert and novelist Peter Ackroyd, is to return to the Albery Theatre, where it enjoyed a run last year after opening at the Comedy.
Callow also scored a hit with an earlier one-man show, at the Savoy Theatre, on Oscar Wilde. Callow, one of our leading West End actors, is also a director and biographer of note. His bravura style lends itself perfectly to a representation of Charles Dickens, an author who in real life made an art form - and a fortune - out of highly dramatic readings from his novels: his account of the brutal death of Nancy in Oliver regularly led to fainting fits among women in the audience.
No doubt more than the usual number of volunteers from St John's Ambulance will be on duty at the back of the stalls during Callow's performance, which runs from March 7 to 31.