Barnet’s rich history and literary connections brought to life in a new play which explores Charles Dickens’ associations with the town

Imagining how the great Victorian novelist Charles Dickens might have spent an evening in the bar at the Red Lion public house in Barnet is the highlight of a new production at The Bull Theatre.

Dickens was said to have gained inspiration for his writing from his visits to North London so the challenge for Barnet playwrights Sarah Munford and Claire Fisher was to visualise what happened when the famous author stayed overnight in the town.

Rehearsals are well under way for Between the Lines: Dickens Comes to Barnet which the Blue Door Theatre Company is to present at The Bull Theatre, High Street. Barnet, for three nights in late April.

Dickens is forced to spend the night at the Red Lion because the road back to London is snowed up and that creates the occasion for some fascinating interaction with an array of the town’s colourful characters – some of whom have a tale to tell.

Peggy, the Red Lion’s landlady played by Naomi Richards (above), has a back history worthy of a Dickens novel and her revelations about her previous connections with the author, played by Chris Browning, are a salutary reminder of his own chequered past.

Before taking on the Red Lion, Peggy was a prostitute, one of many who was said to have been taken off the streets of London with Dickens’ help, and for her guest, by now an old man walking with a stick, his night in Barnet becomes a trip down memory lane. 

The life and times of Dickens’ fellow travellers play out against a background of some of Barnet’s low life including the Barnet Belles, a group of prostitutes who are based across the road at the Bull public house.

Sarah Munford (right) said she hoped her play would encourage the audience to form their own view about Dickens and whether perhaps he had been misogynistic towards women.

“Perhaps questions should be asked about the way Dickens treated his wife, how he tried to get her committed to an asylum after giving birth to ten children, and about his long-term affair with Nelly Ternan.”

Claire Fisher (left) who collaborated with Sarah, said she had enjoyed writing the crowd scenes and she has her own role in the play as nurse Sally Swaddle, the local midwife.

The history of Barnet offers an array of script lines – including a meeting of the guardians at Barnet Workhouse, which was on the site of Barnet House in Wellhouse Lane.

A tense scene develops when a blacksmith’s widow from Finchley and her son face some tough questions about their future.

Another reminder of an earlier visit to Barnet when Dickens was said to have gained inspiration from the steps outside the former Victoria Bakery – steps which become the location in Oliver Twist where Oliver met the Artful Dodger.

That flashback is in the hands of Abel Able (Ross Wilson) who takes on the role of an Artful Dodger lookalike who again captures Dickens’ attention.

Once again props for the production are in the capable hands of sculptor and artist Cos Gerolemou, who has worked behind the scenes on so many of the company’s productions.

He came up with the idea of a sucking pig which has pride of place on the mantlepiece above the fire in the bar of the Red Lion.

For artistic director Siobhan Dunne (above left) – concentrating with Sarah Munford at an evening rehearsal – an annual challenge for the Blue Door Theatre Company is present an original play with a theme based around the history of Barnet and its literary connections.

Her success directing the company speaks for itself: last year’s production, Mary Livingstone, I Presume, based on events surrounding the year Dr David Livingstone lived on Hadley Green, was a sell-out.

Equally popular were original productions on the 1471 Battle of Barnet and the history of once celebrated Barnet Fair.

Between the Lines: Dickens Comes to Barnet features original live songs by composer Nick Godwin of The Silencerz.

There will be four productions, Thursday 23 April and Friday 24 April at 7.30pm; Saturday 25 April at 2pm and 7.30pm

Tickets £15 + booking fee via www.thebulltheare.com