"Dickens in the light of the Magic Lantern"
is a theatre production by:
Adrian Kok - Charles Dickens-actor and researcher, member Dickens Fellowship Haarlem Branch, member of The Magic Lantern Society UK and Magic Lantern Society USA & Canada |
|
Else Flim - author, playwright, translator, director, member of the Dutch Writers Guild, member Dickens Fellowship Haarlem Branch, member of The Magic Lantern Society UK and Magic Lantern Society USA & Canada, member of the Dutch Writers Guild |
Information about the Dickens Theatre Laren
As a writer/dramatist Else Flim can express her passion for the
combination of sound and vision in the Dickens Theatre.
She used to work as a producer in Dutch television and as editor in chief and
director in radio and from 1985 as a novelist. During her Master studies Creative
Development/ Dramaturgy (Utrecht University) she got involved in animation film
and pre-cinema.
In 2010 Adrian Kok became a Dickens- and Magic Lantern Researcher
in order to substantiate the content of the Dickens Theatre shows. He collects
the information regarding Charles Dickens’ life and work (1812-1870).
Adrian Kok was as executive director Organisation in a multinational
not only used to address large audiences, but he hosted international conferences
as well.
It turned out that his vocalisation and performance
were ideal for Dickens performances. Annet Duller, a renowned Magic Lantern
expert, was his tutor in the world of the Magic Lantern and Victorian Lantern
slides. Annet Duller trained Else as a lanternist.
Else did translate the English texts as used by Dickens himself
in his Public Readings and when required - given existence of extra Lantern
slides - she had to translate the original book texts as well.
Both are members of The Magic Lantern Society’s (MLS), an organisation
of pre-cinema scholars and performers. In 2016 the Dickens Theatre did present
the first part of their research in the influence of the magic lantern in the
works of Charles Dickens at an international convention of The Magic
Lantern Society USA&Canada in New Orleans. Adrian and Else gave also a theatre
performance. They won the Research Award for the convention’s best original
scholarship on the magic lantern or related issues.
In 2019 Else made the translation of The Old Curiosity Shop, 715 pages. The Dickens Theatre presented a three hours marathon performance with
two breaks.
And in 2022 the Dickens Theatre did present the results of their research
at the convention of The Magic Lantern Society UK in Birmingham. They gave a theatre
performance as well, with an 1869 welcome, an introduction by ‘Charles Dickens’
and a story from The Pickwick Papers. Their research was published in the MLS Magazine: The Magic Lantern.
Charles Dickens constantly improved his reading texts and so he
was able to keep his enthusiasm for performing his Readings in monopolylogues.
For the stage adaptation Else mixed her views with the observations
of reviewers as Kate Field and Charles Kent who were in the audience during the
original Dickens Readings.
The introductory parts provide insights in life and work of Charles
Dickens. Thanks to international treasury hunts Adrian is succeeding again and
again to enlarge the collection of Dickens’ Story Magic Lantern slides to expand
the theatre repertoire.