Overview
Set in London on December 21-22, 1865 (“the darkest night of the year”), this witty, heartfelt play-with-songs deftly weaves together Dickensian storytelling with a playful theatricality, featuring nine “original Victorian carols” and a diverse cast portraying an array of colorful characters.
With its Victorian winter setting, MR. DICKENS’ HAT is perfect for holiday programming, though not a Christmas show per se. Rather, it seeks to evoke those qualities audiences of all backgrounds perennially seek out each December: a suspenseful, heartfelt story well told, balancing gravity with levity, sentiment with spectacle, and generating plenty of warmth during a cold season.
Casting & Production
Casting
The play may be performed by an ensemble of 6 to 15 actors. If performed by the minimum of 6, the following doubling scheme should be observed:
ONE — KIT
TWO — NED/COUNTESS/STYFFLIP/MUM
THREE — MRS. PRATTLE/LOCKSMITH/MOTHER/PIGGOT
FOUR — MR. GARBLETON/GNAT/OLD ENGINEER/POLLY
FIVE — LADY PLUME/WITSLOW
SIX — FATHER/FLEECE
This ensemble should reflect the racial/ethnic diversity of our current world, rather than the more homogenous Victorian London. Since most of the cast embody different genders, ages, classes, etc. over the course of the play, please consider trans and nonbinary actors for any role they are comfortable playing, but use the character pronouns given in dialogue and narration.
Reviews
“This extraordinary comic drama plays out as Story Theatre, in which a company of actors set out to improvise the tale surrounding MR. DICKENS’ HAT…There are also some beautiful original carols, written by Hollinger, that help create that Victorian feeling…It’s a wonderfully inventive piece of theatre.
—Chicago Theatre Review
“Hollinger’s play has wit and warmth. In a tip of the hat to the master, he populates it with classic Dickens characters: lonely, bereaved and impoverished folks who, despite their situation, remain hopeful, kind and loyal. Despite the hardships fate and society impose, they persevere and prevail.”
—Chicago Herald
“An immensely wise and witty new show to which Dickens himself might readily tip his hat…Very charming and very sophisticated…it very well could be a new holiday classic.”
—WTTW-TV (PBS)
