Workshops for the Great Dickens Christmas Fair Start Halloween Morning!

Come join us as denizens of Dickens’ Victorian London!
Seven stages and more than 700 costumed performers!
Come one come all, learn to act, costume and improvise for the biggest Christmas party on Earth –  in costume, in character, be a star!

We’re looking for characters from the books of Charles Dickens, and ‘Dickensian’ characters of ALL sorts.
What do you get out of it? Just the most fun you’ll ever have and lots of new friends!
Don’t be afraid if you haven’t done this before and don’t know anything about it, we have lots of wonderful classes and teachers!

Workshops and auditions for the Great Dickens Christmas Fair begin at 10:00AM on the morning of October 31st, 2015 at Oceana High School in Pacifica. Find out more here: http://dickensfair.com/involved/vendors-performers

The Dickens Christmas Fair is a bustling theatrical environment, combining the magic of the traditional holiday season with the writings of Charles Dickens and the rich tapestry of Victorian England. The Fair is a combination of stage performances and improvisational acting in the streets of our London, always involving the audience and encouraging them to feel part of the show. The goal of workshops is to create not just an event, but a world. Our visitors comment regularly about being transported to another place and time, and the way no other event can. In order for a world to really thrive, its’ inhabitants need to not only look their characters and act their characters, they need to *think* their characters. This allows us all to really become other people and it’s a lot of fun, both for our audience and for us.

So come out to workshops, on Halloween morning and join in with the biggest Victorian cast on earth!

Don’t just play the video game, learn to LIVE IT, at the workshops for the Great Dickens Christmas Fair!

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair runs five weekends starting November 21st, 2015 including the Friday after Thanksgiving. Three Acres of Victorian Holiday Delights – Gifts, Food, Drink, & Entertainments at the Cow Palace in Daly City, CA.

Get more information at http://dickensfair.com/involved/vendors-performers

Dickens Fair Character Auditions October 3rd in Pacifica (and more…)

Theatrical Fun in 19th Century London!

The Dickens book character groups are ensemble casts that pride themselves on showcasing the vast panoply of Dickens’ brilliantly wrought characters. Dickens’ characters are big, bold and quirky with a lot of theatrical and interactive opportunities, plus tons of scenery to chew. Our lives at Fair are one big theatrical and improvisational banquet throughout the day, interacting with our guests and fellow cast members, and creating scenes from Dickens’ works.

If there is a role in a Dickens book or adaptation that you want to play (or simply find appealing) prepare a brief piece to read – and act – for the audition team. It will give us a clearer idea of your capabilities and the type of character you want to play. Dickens wrote a lot of vivid characters – both male and female – that cover a broad range of age, class and eccentricity level. The books are a theatrical goldmine! There is an enormous amount of material available online to help make your search fun and interesting as well as easy.

More information on the character roles available, please see the Dickens Fair missives page at
http://www.cattaylor.com/missives.html
where you can also see audition opportunities for other shows and casts,  and sign up for the missive (newsletter) list.

For more information about performing at the fair, please see:
http://www.dickensfair.com/involved/vendors-performers/performerinfo

Our own Phyllis Patterson, in a nice write-up in the New York Times.

Phyllis Patterson, Who Revived the 16th Century, Dies at 82

GiveForward Site for Don Kelly’s Chosen Family

The Renaissance Faire, Great Dickens Christmas Fair and Northern California Pirate Festival lost a very dear friend this  week, Don Kelly. I did too.  The GiveForward site for Don’s chosen family is up and available at
https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/44g4/don-kelly-family-fund

 Please give what you can (even a little bit adds up) and share around.

Don Kelly at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair.