I'm soo confused

~laughing~

Character 1: Peggotty from "David Copperfield"

Unmistakable with her Yarmouth accent and brown dress. Beloved nurse of David Copperfield. Answers to "Peggotty," "Miss Peggotty" or "Mistress Peggotty."

From "David Copperfield:"
"What do you call your girl?"...exclaimed Miss Betsey.... "I mean your servant-girl."
'Peggotty,' said my mother.
'Peggotty!' repeated Miss Betsey, with some indignation. 'Do you mean to say, child, that any human being has gone into a Christian church, and got herself named Peggotty?'
'It's her surname,' said my mother, faintly. 'Mr. Copperfield called her by it, because her Christian name was the same as mine.'


Character Number Two: The infamous Sairey Gamp, from "Martin Chuzzlewit."

Nurse, mid-wife and layer-out-of-the-dead. Much esteemed by the undertaker Mr Mould, who declares her "shrewd" with an "intellect far above her station in life" and declares: "She's the sort of woman now,...one would almost feel disposed to bury for nothing; and do it neatly, too!" She has an imaginary friend called Mrs Harris who she constantly references, has a penchant for snuff and gin, taken in tea.

Everyone should know Mrs Gamp. She supervised the laying in and the laying out of just about everyone in the East End.

Look for the figure swathed in black and never without her characteristic green umbrella.

From Martin Chuzzlewit:

She was a fat old woman, this Mrs. Gamp with a husky voice and a moist eye, which she had a remarkable power of turning up, and only showing the white of it. Having very little neck, it cost her some trouble to look over herself, if one may say so, at those to whom she talked. She wore a very rusty black gown, rather the worse for snuff, and a shawl and bonnet to correspond. In these dilapidated articles of dress she had, on principle, arrayed herself, time out of mind, on such occasions as the present; for this at once expressed a decent amount of veneration for the deceased, and invited the next of kin to present her with a fresher suit of weeds: an appeal so frequently successful, that the very fetch and ghost of Mrs. Gamp bonnet and all, might be seen hanging up, any hour in the day, in at least a dozen of the second-hand clothes shops about Holborn. The face of Mrs. Gamp -- the nose in particular -- was somewhat red and swollen, and it was difficult to enjoy her society without becoming conscious of a smell of spirits. Like most persons who have attained to great eminence in their profession, she took to hers very kindly; insomuch that, setting aside her natural predilections as a woman, she went to a lying-in or a laying-out with equal zest and relish.

`Ah!' repeated Mrs. Gamp for it was always a safe sentiment in cases of mourning. `Ah dear! When Gamp was summoned to his long home, and I see him a-lying in Guy's Hospital with a penny-piece on each eye, and his wooden leg under his left arm, I thought I should have fainted away. But I bore up.'

Call me old-fashioned, but I believe in playing actual characters from Dickens' books at the Dickens Fair.

Don't be afraid to talk to either character about anything that suits your fancy. Just be prepared to hold up your end of the conversation.

I am also the Official Minister of Evil for the Empire of Otherbookistan.

cough, cough, hack, Hellooo Mrs. Finching!!!! Happy Christmas!!

Mrs Finching is a Pillar of Innocence

Mark, interesting that you chose to take one small piece of my response to another person's enquiry in that way. Feeling the inexorable tug of the Master's work, are you? Go on, admit it - YOU *WANT* TO BE A DICKENS CHARACTER! bwahahahahahahaha....

Mark, with all due respect, that is BULLSHIT! There used to be a time when every character in the Fair HAD TO BE from a Dickens book. This in no way detracted from the other entertainments but enhanced the world we are creating even more.

And I quote from the 1980 Dickens Christmas Fair missive: "All Entertainment participants are required to pick an appropriate character from one of Dickens' books and expand upon the chosen character so as to create a well-rounded person. Key characters will be cast, but most of you have a choice from over 1,000 characters."

There was another sheet which was nothing but character information and reference material. Performers were also required to complete and turn in a "Character Description Form"

In addition, Kevin Brown had a huge dot-matrix computer print out on continuous feed paper with all the characters from Dickens books, with which he would help to find a character if needed and track who was playing whom.

Have you read any Dickens? Mad Sal's is based on the Three Cripples from "Oliver Twist" (though now we do have an alestand called that, in the old days there wasn't). Sailors were plentiful in Dickens books, as was entertainment in the form of the music hall, theatre, etc, Queen Victoria was still the ruler of the British Empire in his books as well. None of those things would change, but the overall experienced would be enhanced with a brilliant unity and the feeling that we ARE ALL CHARACTERS IN DICKENS' MIND.

This is not just a "Victorian" fair, but a DICKENS Fair, we are not merely bringing the Victorian age to life, but Dickens' world, his unique views and insights.

Says the guy playing a character from a Michael Crichton novel.

I was going to do a character from "Congo" but I couldn't make it work in context. Maybe if I outfit him with steampunk goggles?

Dombey and Sons is open, but we do have the Pecksniff girls and Lizzie Hexam, Dora, Agnes et al are all in attendance.

There are, however, over a thousand wonderful minor Dickens characters. Have a look at the character page on David Perdue's site: charlesdickenspage.com/characters.html

Lots to choose from!

Are you a customer or are you planning to work? If you would like to actually do the Fair, the Otherbooks is casting. PM Therese or Rydell for more info.

Lizzie Hexam, OMF, Martyr. Holds world record for Worst Brother Ever and Worst Proposal Ever.

Thank you for the extra "n". What shall I do with it? No, I don't sneak it, but I have been the beneficiary of a free pass before, though that's not the point. I agree with the costume sentiments -- it also helps avoid being dragged onto the dance floor against my will, like when they call a mazurka. ;-> Damn Polish peasants.

Long time patron ( Pier 45 and Cow Palace), New to working Dickens. Searching for a character. Any suggestions welcome. 62 years old. tall, slender, and attractive. New dress is silk with a flounced skirt, at least when its completed it will be. I have no idea what I'll be doing yet, but will be at the meeting on Saturday to get started. Icon is of me in the barowed outfit I've worn for the past 3 years.

Looking forward to this year.

A female attorney I know just wrote to me and said "Oh, please, Mr. XXX Why do you have to be so arrogant!" So maybe I'll be a barrister and be followed around by my womanservant (I'll need to research whether a female could be a secratry) yelling that (and think of a suitable name - something from Bleak House I'm guessing. This would be me as a patron, but as I alluded to earlier, if you're dressed the plain folk don't know.

It was a goblin - a large, nasty goblin. I believe I frightened him away.

Where were we?

Well...I was being slightly cheeky. ( Maybe it was for the one Dickens person that Isn't a Trekkie? There's gotta be at least one. )

I think I'll be a teddy boy, I think I'll be a hunk
I think I'll be a tough guy and I think I'll be a punk