Doctor Marigold


 My favourite non-ghostly Dickensian story, which I listen to in the run-up to Christmas every year for about a decade now, is Simon Callow's abbreviated reading of "Doctor Marigold". For the unfamiliar, Simon Callow is a theatrical luminary and an expert on Dickens who had a whole series of shows (some televised) performing from Dickens' repertoire. Whilst this story takes place over a considerable length of time, the conclusion has a very Christmassy feel to it.

Rather than a conventional story, this is a monologue about the colourful life of a travelling trader designed to be performed by Dickens himself on his enormously popular tours of the country where he would read both sections of his novels and also do these monologues. He made far more money from acting out these scenes than he ever did as an author (a lesson there for us all, perhaps).

Having enjoyed it for all these years, I thought I'd finally have a crack at reciting it myself. This is the full version of the performance, hopefully not too rushed. I probably should have dressed the part, but life is not presenting me with such luxuries at present. Maybe one day I will go the full hog, dust off my frock coat (if I can still get into it) and do this as a staged piece at a local hall, maybe as a fund raiser for some charity or other.



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