The great-great-great grandson of Charles Dickens is to perform a reading of the dramatic murder scene from Oliver Twist, which “nearly killed” the author.
Oliver Dickens said it is a “great honour” to read two of his ancestor’s most famous scenes in the building in which they were written more than 180 years ago.
He will perform the readings in the author’s former home at 48 Doughty Street in Bloomsbury, London, now the Charles Dickens Museum.
Dickens himself would read extracts from his novels to sellout crowds, but onlookers noticed that reading the “brutal” murder scene featuring his characters Sikes and Nancy in Oliver Twist was having an effect on his own health, the museum said.
“Sometimes, after performing it, Dickens was unable to move and notes from his doctors show that Dickens’s pulse rate was at its highest after performing Sikes and Nancy, compared with his other readings,” it added.
Reading the violent scene “nearly killed” Dickens, and his final reading tour was cut short in April 1870 due to these concerns. He died two months later.
Oliver Dickens will be in residence at the museum for Murder & Mayhem: A Dickensian Performance on selected dates in May.
He will also read The Trial of Pickwick from Dickens’ first novel, The Pickwick Papers, which was first published in serial form from 1836 to 1837, and was closely followed by his second novel, Oliver Twist.
Oliver Dickens said: “It is a great honour to be sharing scenes from two of my ancestor’s best-known works with the museum.
“The intense chaos surrounding Nancy’s murder perfectly complements the farcical order of Pickwick’s trial and it is my privilege to share them with everyone at Doughty Street. I hope to see you this spring.”
Dickens lived at 48 Doughty Street from 1837 when he was a unknown author to 1839, by which time he was a much-celebrated writer. It is the only surviving London house in which he lived.
Tickets to the readings can be booked by visiting www.dickensmuseum.com and include admission to the museum.
