(RED BANK, NJ) -- Gerald Dickens, the great, great grandson of Charles Dickens, brings his one-man show - a theatrical performance of A Christmas Carol inspired by Charles' own energetic readings of the 1860s to benefit Allaire Village on Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at Two River Theater in Red Bank. Two shows are scheduled; 3:00pm and 7:00pm.
Gerald, an actor and producer from Oxford, England, will be performing his captivating rendition of this heartwarming holiday tale. Gerald bears more than a passing resemblance to his famous ancestor, who originally toured the U.S. in 1867 reading his literary works before spellbound audiences. According to Gerald, his great-great grandfather adored theater and initially wanted to be an actor but pursued writing as a career for practical purposes.
For many years Gerald says that he himself “avoided anything to do with Dickens like the plague.” But in 1993 when a friend asked him to do a reading of A Christmas Carol on its 150th anniversary of publication to help raise money for a historical restoration project, he couldn’t turn him down. To his surprise, he enjoyed doing it and has been delighting audiences around the world with his rendition ever since.
During his energetic one-man show, Gerald Dickens leaps, sobs, and laughs all 26 characters of the classic tale as they are brought vividly to life. Gerald has created different postures and voices for each character, achieving this so adeptly that the audience has no doubt about “who is who,” so to speak. This is a chance to experience history first hand along with the magic of Christmas.
Tickets are available for purchase online. Two River Theater is located at 21 Bridge Avenue in Red Bank, New Jersey.
The Historic Village at Allaire was once an iron-producing, factory-town known as the Howell Iron Works, Co. The Village was a self-sufficient community containing a carpentry and pattern making shop, a blacksmith shop, a bakery, a boarding house, a blast furnace, mills to finish iron products, a school, a church, a general store with a post office, and workers’ home. Iron produced at the village was shipped to New York City by wagon and steamship. It was used to produce steam engines parts in a factory also owned by our proprietor, James P. Allaire. The Howell Iron Works, as a community, speaks to the experiences of the economic and social changes of those who experienced early Industrial America. Today the Historic Village at Allaire is an interactive museum where visitors can experience history directly through hands-on activities.
Award-winning Two River Theater, located in Red Bank, New Jersey, is where bold stories inspire imagination and connection. Each season, the theater produces a mix of new plays, reimagined classics, and musicals, along with new work development, education programs for young people, and community engagement events that bring people of all ages together.
Across its 80,000-square-foot campus, more than 20,000 students, families, and theater lovers experience Two River's acclaimed productions each year on its two stages: the 343-seat Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater and the flexible 110-seat Marion Huber Theater. The theater also houses state-of-the-art scenic, costume, and property shops.
Two River has launched productions that have reached international audiences, including Be More Chill by Tony Award® nominees Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz—the theater's first Broadway production—which went on to play in London's West End and Japan. Recognized by USA TODAY as one of the "10 Great Places to See a Play," Two River Theater is led by Artistic Director Justin Waldman and Managing Director Nora DeVeau-Rosen.
