Masque Theatre - The Old Curiosity Shop
DATES:
Tue 9th-13th October 2025
WHERE:
The Round,
Holy Sepulchre Church Hall, Church Lane, Northampton NN1 3NL.
All performances start at 7.30 pm
PRICE:
£10
PRODUCTION:
THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP
Step into a world of mystery, heartbreak, and unforgettable characters.
Follow young Nell and her grandfather on a perilous journey through Victorian England, fleeing danger after their lives are thrown into disarray and destitution, due to the machinations of an evil moneylender.
A timeless tale of resilience, tragedy and the enduring power of hope.
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens is not often performed on stage and so I set about adapting the novel to suit the performance venue.
There are many of the recurring characters of Dickens’s works: a nasty moneylender, scheming legal clerks, gentlemen, philanthropic gentlemen, eccentric old ladies to name a few.
The story has been compared to Pilgrims Progress, with the journey taken by Nell and her Grandfather broken down into episodes, in each of which Nell learns something of life from the people she meets.
Dickens does not spare your feelings when portraying the cruelties of working (or non-working) class life in the 19th Century, but amidst the suffering the overriding message is of hope for better things to come.
A central element of the story is Grandfather’s addiction to gambling, an issue still just as much a problem in the modern world. In the novel, Nell pays the ultimate price for his weakness. In this adaptation, being performed near to Christmas, I may need to insert a little more hope there!
