in Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Southgate, West Grey
December 07, 2024
BY SOUTHGREY.CA STAFF — Four local veteran actors are in love with Victorian English. Although the language hasn’t changed tremendously since the dour Queen took a left turn at the 20th century, many of the colloquial words and phrases used during the Victorian era, have since fallen out of use.
John Bourgeois is a Canadian actor who began working professionally in the mid-1980s, and became a steady presence in film and television, both in Canada and the U.S.
Maria Ricossa is known, in film and on TV, for her roles in The Inlaws, Bojangles and The Space Between and recurring roles in The Strain, Designated Survivor, Da Kink in my Hair and Missing.
Geoff Bowes is a Canadian actor of stage and screen, most noted for his performance in the 1979 film Something's Rotten, for which he received a Genie Award nomination.
Dixie Seatle is a Canadian actress and faculty member in the Acting for Film and Television program at Humber College's School of Creative and Performing Arts in Toronto.
Together, they will come together to revisit some of that colourful Victorian language in a dramatic reading of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, performed at Annesley Church in Markdale.
"You've seen the movie, now hear the book," said Bourgeois, exulting the unedited beauty of the original prose — a sentiment echoed by the other thespians.
"Charles Dickens was a masterful author. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many, as the greatest novelist of his time," said Bowes.
Penning such classics as David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens stature has been sealed in the annals of literature. But his 1843 novella A Christmas Carol remains especially popular and has inspired many adaptations.
Dickens used figurative language to draw us into the story and present characters and scenes that are both descriptive and entertaining. His strong narrative voice commented on the characters, while at the same time, telling their story. It's this, the original version of the classic tale that the acting group wants to celebrate. For practical purposes, however, the story will be abbreviated.
The reading will take place at 7:30 pm on Saturday, December 21. Coffee and tea available. Door prizes will be handed out. The Annesley Church is located at 82 Toronto Street South in Markdale. Admission is free with donations gratefully accepted.
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