Want to exercise your artistic muscles and make our guests' experience even more Dickensian? Consider auditioning for the Other Books! Mr Dickens' works are filled with fabulous characters spanning the entire range of human expression and drawing from all walks of life. Colourful eccentrics? You betcha! Solid salt of the earth types? Yup. Exaggerated versions of every Victorian type imaginable? Oh yeah. Villains? We've got those too. You have theatrical muscles you want to stretch? There is probably a Dickens character waiting for you to step into it.
As an ensemble cast of improvisational actors our role at the Fair is to continually interact with our guests and fellow participants providing those unique Dickensian moments that make our immersive world so unique. We are looking for experienced improvisational, interactive performers to fill out our merry band and populate the streets with the vivid and memorable characters sprung from the fevered imagination of Charles Dickens. All of the Fair is our stage, and its throngs our ever-changing audience. This is a full time commitment that requires energy, enthusiasm, strong improvisational skills and tremendous esprit de corps. We are looking for passionate people willing to bring vivid characters to life in a highly interactive and improvisational setting.
While we filling in some vacancies for specific characters noted below, Mr Dickens wrote a lot of characters, and most of them are wonderful frameworks for a performer to step into and make their own. We encourage people to peruse the Dickens sites to get a feel for what would be a good fit. Even if a specific desired character is already cast, there are usually similar characters in other works.
This year we are especially looking for:
Ralph Nickleby (Nicholas Nickleby): A "respectable" and powerful man of business with family issues and few dark secrets
Miss LaCreevy (Nicholas Nickleby): A lively and artistic lady of a certain age who helps and supports the Nickleby family through its travails.
Agnes Wickfield (David Copperfield) - a steady practical, and brave young woman. David's closest friend, most loyal supporter and ultimately his second wife.
Nicodemus "Noddy" Boffin (Our Mutual Friend): The "Golden Dustman" - a lively, generous, outgoing older man with a marvelous rags-to-riches story.
Philip Pirrip aka Pip (Great Expectations): a young man with an earnest heart, a taste for the finer things of life and a mystery at the core of his life.
Estella (Great Expectations): a young woman of spirit and a troubled upbringing, the idol of Pip's worship.
Mr Jaggers (Great Expectations): a faintly eccentric lawyer with an entire vault of secrets consigned to his care
Herbert Pocket (Great Expectations): Pip's friend and guide through London life.
Mollie (Great Expectations): Jaggers' servant, who has a few secrets of her own.
Magwich (Great Expectations): convict, benefactor, man of mystery, diamond in the rough.
If you are interested in any of these characters, or other characters (and there are so many other characters) prepare an audition and show us what you got!
Dickens' characters run the gamut of age, physical appearance, station in life and personality types. People frequently ask us what we are looking for - we want people who love to act and interact and who can bring Our Author's characters to life. No character in Dickens is a small one - each one is a canvas bristling with possibilities. For inspiration, peruse the works of Dickens (online or actual pages) or watch some of the brilliant British TV and film adaptations of his works for an idea of the kinds of characters that exist in the Dickens universe. Even if the roles you're thinking about are filled, giving us an idea of the "type" that interests you, can help us match you up with a role that you find fulfilling.
~ Therese Porter & Rydell Downward