Nicola Boyce: Writer, Nicola had an extensive acting career before turning her hand to writing and adapting.
The Pickwick Papers is a classic and I enjoy doing things nobody has done before. I love Dickens – his humour is still so relevant today, I’ve been reading the book all year – I hadn’t read it before I was commissioned to do it by Ian Dickens. They were looking to do something before panto with a slightly Christmassy feel. It was a bit scary when I picked it up it’s such a big work with so many different characters in it so I had to start cutting quite drastically from the beginning.
I started off by asking how many actors they could pay and accommodate! The answer was ‘about ten’– so that had quite a lot of bearing on it and there was definitely going to be some doubling. You start off with vital characters – who can I not do without? And then you move on and think, ‘I need that person, and they’ve got to have a maid so that person might have to double’.
I read it several times and you find so many scenes crying out to be dramatised so that narrows it down, then you look for a format, timeline and how many sets you need. The play is something that will tour and it cannot be a huge financial burden. I’m not a stage designer but I am aware when I’m writing that I can’t suddenly change location drastically.
I’ve tried to be faithful to the book which has a mad timeline! I think Charles Dickens gets a little confused halfway through as he wrote it in episodes. I had to consult a study guide to check as he seemed to go a bit wrong, telescoping the time – it’s quite nice, makes him more endearing!
Actually this made it quite handy for me! The book takes place over two or three years and I have done it over a year – it starts at Christmas then ends at the next Christmas. There are some scenes you long to see on stage – for example the trial scene where Pickwick is sued for breach of contract by Mrs Wardle. In the book this scene is hilarious – although it ends in the grim debtors’ prison as he refuses to pay the summons. There was also the fancy dress party he is invited to with the pompous hostess Mrs Leo Hunter.
It’s written so theatrically you know it’s just got to go in. We were trying to find something that would appeal to the whole family and people love Dickens at Christmas.
Rebecca Wheatley Actor, Rebecca is a singer and actress for the stage and television
I play two completely different characters: Rachel Wardle and Mrs Leo Hunter, the great hostess of the manor. They are completely contrasting characters in typical Dickens style – eccentric to say the least! There are not many middle parts in Dickens but for an actress this is joy. He writes these big characters – either very, very virtuous or mad maiden aunts. They are fantastic to play and fantastic to watch. Dickens was really writing soap – because he was writing in episodes he had to keep these big characters going through it as people don’t get into middling characters that take a long time to develop.
The Pickwick Papers was Dickens’ first novel and is very long and quite a serious work as well as being great fun too of course. The men going off on their travels, the Christian values that the good man must prosper at the end as well as many random women and adventures on the way!
At the centre of the story is the theme of how we don’t trust politicians, we don’t trust the Government and it’s the Pickwicks of the world who will go to debtors’ prison in a good cause. A lot of the descriptive bit is in the playing as opposed to in the writing. I was invited to take part by Ian Dickens Productions.
I haven’t done much period stuff but I studied Dickens at University. He was my favourite. The characters I play are totally different; Mrs Leo Hunter comes out with some of the most outrageous things.
Working at two different roles, you have to start with how you look – costumes are so important but it’s harder if the characters are more subtle, one is deeply unattractive and the other is over the top, ludicrous, dressed up. Mrs Leo Hunter is almost like a party piece in that she hosts her ball and gets all the men to play along with her songs and then she disappears. Rachel comes to finish off her story.
It’s not an obvious choice of book – it’s rambling – it’s still a book that people study but enough happens in it – there’s tricks and intrigue without the sentimentality that sometimes afflicts versions of A Christmas Carol. It’s a robust play, very manly and physical. We’re on tour just before the Christmas panto season and The Pickwick Papers has all those themes with music, songs and a swashbuckling story with drinking, betrayal and bags of comedy.
The Pickwick Papers is on tour at various venues until December 14th