Enjoy a ‘Dickens of a Christmas’ this year at the Charles Dickens Museum
(also don’t miss this tie-in offer for Barbican residents)
The Charles Dickens Museum are pleased to announce their Christmas festivities at the celebrated Victorian author’s ‘house in town’ – number 48 Doughty Street – Charles Dickens’s only remaining London family home. The house will be authentically decorated for a Victorian Christmas and playing host to a season of magical events.
Mr & Mrs Charles Dickens warmly invite you to their family Christmas at Doughty Street. From a plum pudding prepared in the wash house to a Twelfth Night party hosted in the nursery, come and join the Dickens family’s festivities of 1838.
Curator Louisa Price has put together room displays reflecting the personal Christmas festivities of Charles Dickens, compiled through research into the records, letters and memoirs of Dickens himself, as well as his family and friends. Says Louisa Price: “Charles Dickens was a huge fan of Christmas and became well-known for the elaborate festivities he put on. We have used the historical resources available to us to recreate scenes throughout the House reflecting how the Dickens family would have celebrated Christmas here at 48 Doughty Street.”
Smoking Apples Theatre Company will be performing a specially-commissioned shadow puppetry show, A Christmas Carol and other tales of Christmas Past. We are also delighted to welcome back Dominic Gerrard in his highly regarded one-man show of A Christmas Carol, directed by Tim Carroll.
New to the Museum this year, Professor Michael Slater MBE will be exploring the darker side of Dickens’s Christmas stories in our ‘Bah Humbug Tuesdays’.
The programme also includes:
- A Very Dickensian Christmas Eve – be transported back into a Victorian Christmas with mulled cider, mince pies and a host of immersive performances and demonstrations.
- Christmas Lates – with a bar, film screenings and other Christmas surprises.
- A Christmas Carol – Professor Michael Slater’s annual reading of Dickens’s much-loved festive tale.
- Dickensian Christmas by Candlelight – soak up the atmosphere of a candlelit setting during these two magical evening openings.
- Christmas Dickensian walks – stroll through the byways and backstreets of Dickensian London, including a visit to Dickens’s favourite tavern.
- Christmas costumed tours – families are invited to step back in time to Christmas 1839, with Dickens’s housemaid leading you through the beautifully decorated house and letting you into a family secret or two…
Visitor Information
Address: 48 & 49 Doughty Street
London WC1N 2LX
Nearest tubes: Russell Square, Chancery Lane or King’s Cross St. Pancras
Opening Times: 10am – 5pm, Monday to Sunday.
Event times vary.
Telephone: 020 7405 2127
Website: www.dickensmuseum.com/all-events
