'Performing at castle linked to Dickens is special'

A student actor says performing A Christmas Carol in a venue connected to Charles Dickens will be a "very special" experience.

Ellen McDermott, a third‑year acting student at the University of Northampton, is playing young Scrooge and Fred in the university's production of the festive classic at Rockingham Castle, near Corby

Dickens is known to have visited the castle, which is thought to have inspired elements of his novel Bleak House.

Ms McDermott, 21, said: "I think it's a very special and very unique connection that not a lot of places have, and it's very exciting to be able to help bring that legacy back."

The play is an adaptation by Mark Gatiss of the Dickens classic and has more of a focus on the original's ghost-story tone.

The cast have been given a tour of Rockingham Castle, where they saw the chair used by Dickens during his visits.

They also viewed letters linked to the author and explored the underground space where he once performed for staff.

"[A Christmas Carol] is very precious to my Christmas traditions as it's so well known," said Ms McDermott.

"So you want to do it well, [the rehearsals] are really fun and exciting, and I think it's going to be really good."

Harry Quinn, 22, who plays Ebenezer Scrooge, echoed her comments.

"[Rockingham Castle] is a beautiful, beautiful place and the performance space itself is wonderful," he said.

"It's very small, but we've been able to adapt to that and it's joyful, it's great."

Luke Clarke, the course leader of Acting for Contemporary and Devised Performance at the university, said: "It's incredible to be performing in a place where Charles Dickens wrote some of his work.

"Thematically and historically, it's all tied together really nicely."

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