Mr. Nightingale’s Diary (1851) was a collaboration between Charles Dickens and Punch editor Mark Lemon, the farce was written and performed as a benefit for the Guild of Literature and Art, and the cast was an all-star team of Victorian authors and illustrators. The action takes place at a health resort, where the schemes of a conman and quack doctor (originally played by Lemon) are exposed by Gabblewig, a quick-change amateur actor who’s a man of a thousand faces (originally played by Dickens himself). Gabblewig, a classic trickster character, changes into a deaf sexton, a feeble invalid, Sam Weller, and, in the play’s highlight, Mrs. Gamp.

As far as we know this will be the Athens GA premiere of this little known masterpiece. Don't miss it. Read more