General interest

Rochester Cathedral was recently the scene of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The event was led by the Lord Lieutenant of Kent who read a letter from Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. One highlight was a reading from Christmas Carol by Oliver “Ollie” Dickens, the great, great, great grandson of Charles Dickens. Watch a video.

OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY WITH MUSIC BY CLARE NORBURN

​It’s Charles Dickens’ last Christmas Eve: 1869. Against his doctor’s wishes, he gives one of his acclaimed theatrical readings of A Christmas Carol: but from the moment the lights go down, his life becomes strangely entangled with his character Scrooge. Dickens’ carefully managed image as a family man, who has created the very quintessence of Christmas starts to unravel. He is haunted by the women he has mistreated, who force him to face up to his past, present and future. Can Dickens learn from the ghosts, repent - and be saved, as Scrooge was saved?

The fully-staged show is directed by BAFTA-nominated director Nicholas Renton, features stunning lighting design by Natalie Rowland and soundtracked by lively Victorian street music, haunting carols, folk music from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century and incidental music by Steven Edis performed by The Telling.