Andersen’s English
by Sebastian Barry 2010
Celebrated children’s writer Hans Christian Andersen arrives, unannounced, for a stay at Gad’s Hill Place in the Kent marshes – home to Charles Dickens and his large, charismatic family.
To the lonely and eccentric guest, the members of Dickens’s household seem to live a life of unreachable bliss. But with his broken English, Andersen doesn’t at first see the tensions brewing in the family: undeclared passions, a son about to go to India, and a growing strangeness at the heart of Dickens’s marriage.
REVIEWS
“It’s beautifully written and the story is a fascinating one… Max Stafford-Clark’s production sweeps us from one encounter to another”
-What’s On Stage 
“Barry captures excellently the sense that Dickens’ supposedly contented family life was one of his greatest fictions”
-Guardian
“Magnificent… Theatre gets no better”
-British Theatre Guide
“Will become a classic”
-Country Life
CAST & CREATIVES
Cast: Niamh Cusack, Lisa Kerr, Alastair Mavor, Kathryn O’Reilly, David Rintoul, Danny Sapani.
Director: Max Stafford-Clark
Designer: Lucy Osborne
Lighting Designer: Tim Bray
Sound Designer Carolyn Downing
Musical Director Julian Littman
PERFORMANCES
BURY ST EDMUNDS THEATRE ROYAL
11 – 14 February 2010
SOUTHAMPTON NUFFIELD THEATRE
16 – 20 February 2010
LEEDS WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE
23 – 27 February 2010
MANCHESTER LIBRARY THEATRE
2 – 6 March 2010
COVENTRY BELGRADE THEATRE
9 – 13 March 2010
SALISBURY PLAYHOUSE
23 – 27 March 2010
MOLD, CLWYD THEATRE CYMRU
30 March – 3 April 2010
HAMPSTEAD THEATRE
7 April – 8 May 2010