Review by Michael Gray The Cameo Players www.cameoplayers.co.uk The Cameo Players The Cameo Players present dynamic, sophisticated theatre. from classic productions to themed soirées,
THE DICKENS OF A VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS The Cameo Players at Hylands House 9th December 2012 "Mr Dickens dead ? Then will Father Christmas die too?" Such was the identification of the merry-making with the "man who invented Christmas" in the popular Victorian mind. Cameo Players' accomplished actors reminded us, in this year's Hylands House festivities that many of the traditions we know and love were invented, or revived, in the nineteenth century, and most of them were celebrated in the works of Charles Dickens. Reeking punch, Mr Winkle getting his skates on, old Mrs Wardle and her ghost story, Fezziwig's ball, and a Christmas Carol, of course, with Alfred Knightbridge as Scrooge to the life. Some less familiar, less Victorian pieces too. Particularly moving were Wendy Cope's The Christmas Life, read by Vicky Tropman, and Leonard Clark's Singing In The Streets, read by Lindsay Lloyd, who devised this seasonal anthology. Music from Doublet maintained the atmosphere; with The Snow It Melts the Soonest, and Mr Wardle's very own Dingley Dell carol amongst the crackers on offer. And a tongue-in-cheek finish, a doggerel panto version of A Christmas Carol, ["I promise you I will atone / Please scrub my name from off that stone!"] with John Peregrine wearing paper chains as Marley's Ghost, and tinsel as Christmas Past, Philip Wilson as Cratchit, Sarah Slaughter as Tiny Tim, Belle, and the Boy who fetches the prize turkey. Reviews Picture Gallery Cast Members The Future Costumes