Damian Humbley, Jon Robyns & More Announced in DICKENS ABRIDGED at The Arts Theatre, Nov 27

This Christmas, actors from West End Shows as diverse as Merrily We Roll Along, Avenue Q, LES MISERABLES, Spamalot, and Reduced Shakespeare will join forces in DICKENS ABRIDGED, a fast-paced musical comedy from the co-creator of The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), which will open in the West End for a limited Christmas Season at The Arts Theatre from Wednesday 27 November 2013 toSunday 5 January 2014 (press night Monday 2 December).

The cast line-up, announced by SJC Productions today, is Damian Humbley, Jon Robyns, Kit Orton, Gerard Carey and Matthew Hendrickson.

Damian Humbley (Charles Dickens) was most recently seen as Charley Kringas in Merrily We Roll Along at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Harold Pinter Theatre. Other recent credits include Harry in Company at Sheffield Crucible, Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre, Shoes at the Peacock Theatre, Seymour in the UK Tour of Little Shop of Horrors and Jamie in the UK Premiere of The Last Five Years at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Jon Robyns (Fagin, Scrooge and many other characters) is currently playing Sir Galahad in Spamalot at The Playhouse Theatre. Other recent credits include Hollis Bessemer in Road Show at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Enjolras in the 25th Anniversary Production of LES MISERABLES, Marius in LES MISERABLES at the Queen's Theatre and Princeton/Rod in the Original Cast of Avenue Q at the Noel Coward Theatre.

Kit Orton (Miss Havisham, David Copperfield and many others) is currently appearing alongside Jon as Sir Lancelot in Spamalot at The Playhouse Theatre. Other recent credits include The Hired Man at Leicester Curve and Arabian Nights, Spend Spend Spend and Martin Guerre, all at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury.

Gerard Carey (Tiny Tim, Oliver Twist and others) has appeared in Soho Cinders at Soho Theatre, Master Class at the Vaudeville Theatre, Ex at Soho Theatre, Invisible Man at the Menier Chocolate Factory, as Prince Herbert in Spamalot at the Palace Theatre and as Robertson Ay in the Original Cast of Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre. At the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Gerard has appeared in The Taming Of The Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Two Gentlemen Of Verona and High Society.

Matthew Hendrickson (Mr. Micawber, The Ghost of Christmas Present and others) has appeared in the West End productions of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and The Complete History of America (Abridged) at the Criterion Theatre. Other recent credits includeFeathers in the Snow at Southwark Playhouse and The Full Monty at the English Theatre, Frankfurt.

A high-speed comic sprint through Dickens' Greatest Hits, Dickens Abridged sees our absurdly talented cast of five Charles Dickens devotees bring hundreds of the great author's best-loved characters to life in 90-minutes of madcap Dickensian mayhem. From Great Expectationscomplete with flaming bride, to A Christmas Carol in which Tiny Tim Rocks the house with a soaring electric guitar solo, Dickens Abridged will take you on a hilarious ride through the thrills and spills of some of Charlie's greatest works including David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby.

Dickens Abridged also reveals some fascinating and bizarre-but-true stories from Charles Dickens' own life, including his complicated romantic entanglements, and his inexplicable enthusiasm for performing the bludgeoning scene from Oliver Twist, over and over and over again.

A love-letter to the life and works of one of the world's greatest authors, Dickens Abridged is guaranteed to show the wonderful world of Dickens as never seen before.

Dickens Abridged is written and directed by Adam Long, who was a founding member of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), which Adam directed and co-wrote, ran in the West End for nine years and was nominated for an Olivier Award as well as running twice Off-Broadway and in successful tours all over the world. Other stage work includes The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) and The Complete History of America (abridged) for the Reduced Shakespeare Company and Deconstructing Albert at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre. Work for TV includes History on Toast and Last Minute Book Reports for the Disney Channel, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) for PBS, Trigger Happy TV for Channel Four and Star Wars Shortened for LucasFilm/BSkyB.

Dickens Abridged is co-created by Alex Jackson-Long, whose many credits as a television producer include The Kumars at No. 42, Armstrong & Miller, Trigger Happy TV, Fonejacker, and The Lenny Henry Show. Work as a film producer includes The Barn (Winner of a British Independent Film Award), and the BAFTA-nominated short film Skin & Blister starring Fiona Shaw. Theatre credits include casting director forThe Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) at the Criterion Theatre, and associate producer of Alan Cumming's one-man show I Bought a Blue Car Today at the Vaudeville Theatre.

Dickens (abridged) is written and directed by Adam Long. It is produced by Simon Cummin for SJC Productions.

Website www.dickensabridged.com | Twitter @DickensAbridged

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