A novella by Charles Dickens
Based on Charles Dickens’ beloved novella and adapted by Sarah Rodgers and Naomi Wright, with original music and lyrics by Christopher King, this production bubbles with humour, song, and a touch of fairytale magic — not to mention a singing Cricket who keeps watch over all.
More popular in its day than A Christmas Carol, The Cricket on the Hearth is a tale of family, love, and the small miracles that keep hearts warm in winter. When Charles Dickens wrote The Cricket on the Hearth in 1845, one of his most tender characters was Bertha Plummer, a young blind woman whose kindness, perception, and emotional intelligence illuminate the story’s heart.
Fun fact: Behind the scenes, our own Amy Amantea worked closely with the creative team to support respectful representation of blindness in the portrayal of Bertha, a character who, in this production, is played by a sighted actor. Amy worked really hard to get this production described, so don’t miss this one!
Bonus treat: Amy Amantea and Johnny Tai, both artists from the Blind community, will have their work on display in the lobby!
Tickets
Tickets are offered at a special price of $15. To reserve your seat, please email Amy Amantea at amy@vocalEye.ca or call 604-763-2695. Payment will be processed at the theatre box office on the day of the performance.
Running time: TBA
A novella by Charles Dickens
Adapted by Sarah Rodgers and Naomi Wright
Original music and lyrics by Christopher King
Directed by Sarah Rodgers
Check out this article/ interview about Authentic Representation, with Amy Amantea
Read the article
About the Story:
The Peerybingle family’s humble home is full of laughter, music, and one very wise cricket who chirps to keep their spirits bright. But when secrets and misunderstandings threaten their happiness, it’s the Cricket who reminds everyone of the power of kindness, forgiveness, and faith in one another.
Meet Bertha:
Bertha is a young blind woman whose heart sees more clearly than most. Loving, intuitive, and full of warmth, she listens deeply to the world around her. Her kindness and insight reveal truths that others overlook, making her one of Dickens’ most compassionate and enduring characters.
The Playwright: Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian era. His many volumes include such works as David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend. Dickens gave his first formal expression to his Christmas thoughts in his series of small books, the first of which was the famous A Christmas Carol. There were four others: The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man. The five are known today as the Christmas Books. The Cricket on the Hearth, although third in the series, is perhaps next in popularity to A Christmas Carol. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity during his lifetime than had any previous author. Much in his work could appeal to the simple and the sophisticated, to the poor and to the queen, and technological developments as well as the qualities of his work enabled his fame to spread worldwide very quickly. His long career saw fluctuations in the reception and sales of individual novels, but none of them was negligible or disregarded and his popularity has never ceased. The most abundantly comic of English authors, he was much more than a great entertainer. The range, compassion, and intelligence of his apprehension of his society and its shortcomings enriched his novels and made him both one of the great forces in 19th-century literature and an influential spokesman of the conscience of his age.
