Wonders of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with Simon Callow and John Mullan
Art & Culture • 1h 11m
What is it about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that has enchanted the public since its publication in 1843? Few people are as well placed to answer that question than John Mullan and Simon Callow. Mullan is a professor of English literature, whose recent book, The Artful Dickens, reveals the tricks and ploys of this most eccentric of literary geniuses. Callow, renowned actor, director and author, has written two books on Dickens, portrayed him on film and television, and has been thrilling audiences since 2011 with his sold-out one-man performances of A Christmas Carol.
On December 20 Mullan and Callow come to Intelligence Squared to celebrate this most beloved of Dickens’ stories and discuss how a work which Dickens originally intended to be a political tract about the misery of the Victorian poor became one of the most enduring Christmas classics. With discussion and readings from the book, Mullan and Callow will bring us Ebenezer Scrooge, the curmudgeonly businessman who decries Christmas with ‘Bah! Humbug!', the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future, who take Scrooge on a journey through his own life, and the kindly clerk Bob Cratchit and his sick son Tiny Tim. Join us for our final event of the year as Scrooge finally sets aside his mean-spirited ways and embraces the true generous spirit of Christmas!
Up Next in Art & Culture
-
Gods and Mortals: What Greek Myths ca...
Hercules, Prometheus, Pandora. The compelling characters of Greek mythology continue to fascinate readers thousands of years after their stories were first told. In February 2023 leading classicist Sarah Iles Johnston came to Intelligence Squared to discuss their enduring popularity and also to p...
-
Carlo Rovelli and Tom Holland on Anax...
‘In my opinion this idea of Anaximander’s [that the Earth is suspended in space] is one of the boldest, most revolutionary, and most portentous ideas in the whole history of human thinking.’ – Karl Popper
Carlo Rovelli is one of the world’s best known scientists. A theoretical physicist, his boo...