Responding to a standing ovation Saturday night, Gerald Dickens bowed repeatedly and waved goodbye – to Buxton and to America.
Dickens, the great-great-grandson of British author Charles Dickens, portrayed Ebeneezer Scrooge and other characters created by his famous forbear in “A Christmas Carol.” After a decade of tours, his final public appearance in the United States was at Tory Hill Church in Buxton.
He came for Buxton Community Day and the 150th anniversary celebration of the birth of author Kate Douglas Wiggin, who grew up in Hollis and as a child had met Charles Dickens.
“It’s a special time to be here,” Gerald Dickens said last week.
Gerald Dickens, 42, performed three one-man shows in Buxton. “I love doing this,” he said last week before a performance.
His shows were well received. “I think he was spectacular, fascinating on stage. I loved it,” said Michelle Caron of Buxton.
The performances attracted some people from surrounding communities and as far as Massachusetts. Warren Gilman of North Gorham read a biography of Charles Dickens before attending one of the performances in Buxton.
“I wanted to make sure I got here,” Gilman said. “He was entertaining.”
In his presentations, Dickens portrayed characters created by his ancestor. Peter Bennett of Buxton has read Charles Dickens and attended the Friday evening show by Gerald Dickens. “I thought it was a terrific performance,” Bennett said. “There were terrific moments.”
Gerald Dickens has performed coast to coast in the United States and loves his work on stage. “People have such an affection for Charles Dickens,” he said. “An office and a desk doesn’t do it for me.”
He laughed, recalling an amusing moment in Tennessee when he was signing autographs after a performance. A woman with a southern drawl wondered if he was going to sing. “Are you little Jimmy Dickens?” he said she asked.
But the tours have taken him away from his family for extended times especially during the Christmas seasons for the past 10 years. He lives in England, south of London.
Dickens has a 7-year-old son and two step daughters, ages 13 and 15. “It has been difficult,” he said about being away from his family.
With his children growing up, he wants to spend time with them. “Become a bit of a regular dad,” he said.
His first performance of Charles Dickens was a benefit in 1993 for a local village in England on the 150th anniversary of “A Christmas Carol.” Preparing for the role, Gerald Dickens practiced gestures, facial expressions and voices in front of a mirror.
Inspired by success of the show, he studied Charles Dickens. He said Charles Dickens was gregarious and enthralled with the limelight. He said Dickens loved being on stage but was shy and insecure offstage. “He never rested. He was always on the go,” Gerald Dickens said.
Charles Dickens had gone to work when he was 12 in a “rat-infested factory” after his parents were cast into a debtor’s prison in England. The fear of poverty haunted Dickens throughout his life.
In his writings, Dickens, whose first writing job was as a news reporter, raised awareness of social injustices and the big divide between the wealthy and the poor during his day. “He tried to bring attention to it,” Gerald Dickens said. “Politicians and lawyers didn’t do very well in Dickens’ novels.”
Charles Dickens first came to the United States to visit in 1842. Curiosity brought him to these shores. “America fascinated him,” Gerald Dickens said.
But, he arrived with pre-conceived ideas. “He was so disillusioned when he didn’t find perfection,” Gerald Dickens said.
Dickens went home upset after being blasted by the press. At a banquet, he had advocated international copyright laws for authors who were being pirated on both sides of the Atlantic. “Penniless authors were suffering,” Gerald Dickens said.
But the American press slammed him in headlines. Gerald Dickens said the press thought Dickens was just trying to get more cash. He said his forbear was arrogant and returned “seething” to England. In two novels, he wrote scathing attacks on America.
But later, a more mature Dickens would apologize to America. Rising from a sofa while visiting the Royal Brewster mansion in Buxton, Gerald Dickens walked to a bookcase and plucked the Dickens novel “Martin Chuzzlewit” from a shelf. He read Dickens’ apology in a postscript in 1868 that appears in every copy.
Describing his ancestor, Gerald Dickens said he was creative and didn’t always use perfect English. “He didn’t like to be constrained by anything,” Gerald Dickens said.
Dickens had a bushy beard, long hair and wore “garish” waistcoats. He was “slightly outrageous.” Gerald Dickens, emulating his ancestor, promised to wear colorful waistcoats in his Buxton performances. “Does the ole boy proud,” Gerald Dickens said.
In Buxton, Jan Hill of the Dorcas Society presented Gerald Dickens with a print of Tory Hill, showing the church and the Royal Brewster mansion. “We are so delighted your spending your final performance with us on Buxton Community Day,” Hill said.
And Fred Cole of Salmon Falls Library in Hollis gave Gerald Dickens a print of the library, which he visited. Cole will forward the print after an artist personalizes it for Gerald Dickens.
In a musical prelude to the performances in Buxton, Darrell Morrow, music director at Gorham High School, played piano. He accompanied Wayneflete High School senior Angela Doxsey of Gorham, who played violin.
Morrow said the shows were a throw back to another century. “Awesome. A nice walk through history,” Morrow said. “A great orator.”
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