AS a schoolboy Gerald Dickens was no great fan of the work of his illustrious great, great grandfather.
In fact when he had to read Oliver Twist for O'Level he got so bored he chucked the book away and tried to pass the exam by quoting lyrics from the Lionel Bart film.
Happily he soon discovered the magic in Charles Dickens words and, as a 46-year-old actor, travels the world performing classic Dickensian roles and reading from the novels.
Using a combination of diary extracts and the observations of those who lived and worked with Dickens, alongside re-creations of characters from books like David Copperfield and The Pickwick Papers, he delivers a powerful sense of his famous ancestor's talent, infuriatingly stubborn behaviour, over-riding self-belief and workaholic regime.
It also pays tribute to the great man's love of theatricality with the second half of the show devoted to a remarkable one-man performance of Nicholas Nickelby.
Gerald Dickens has obviously got over his aversion to Oliver Twist, too, and ends the first half of this enjoyable evening with a wonderfully dramatic reading of Dickens' famed tour favourite The Murder of Nancy.
