Northlight Theatre, Mr. Dicken’s Hat, is an imaginary story set in Victorian England, 1865, during the holidays about the value of having Charles Dicken’s hat and those who will be despicable to steal it, seeking a great fortune in return.

When you walk into the theater, you can see and hear the perplexity regarding the stage setup. Its simplicity seemed to suggest a lack of funds, as the stage only has a few uninteresting and misplaced items, combined with obstructed views. However, after reviewing the play, we believe it was an ingenious way to bring the audience into the performance before it started. As the actors come on stage, we can peel back the layers of the superficial scene, which mysteriously captivated us to see that its two stores combined by Mr. Garbleton and Mrs. Prattie, now known as Garbleton and Prattie.

Galton and Prattie have come together after both widowers decide to marry. Garbleton has a son who seems slow-witted to his soon-to-be mother-in-law, who is embarrassed and doesn’t publicly acknowledge him. His only friend is Kit, a young girl, who has to work at their store to pay back her father’s debt, who is being schemed by Chief Warder Fleece in a “Repayback Program,” he concocted to skim funds paid for those in debtors prison.

Fleece, who seeks the hat, brings along Gnat, who works with him at the prison, promises that he will have his job after helping him get the hat, which will allow Gnat to receive the same perpetuities he now receives in the position. However, Gnat doesn’t understand the value of one hat in a hat store and describes it as trash, but Fleece tells him it depends on who trash it was. Fleece informs Gnat, “There lies the difference between trash and treasure,” for this hat belongs to Charles Dicken’s. When Kit learns of his plans, she concocts to save the hat from the would-be thieves.

Although Dicken’s characters usually centered around men, with the women being wholesome and pure, Playwright Michael Hollinger wrote this play around women, especially a young twelve-year-old girl. This is because we wanted to bring out the struggles women faced during the period of time, which were similar to male characters associated in Dicken’s novels like Oliver Twist or David Copperfield.

Hollinger and Director David Catlin do an excellent job bringing together this multitalented cast featuring Christine Bunuan ( Miss Saigon (Broadway Tour), Cordelia Dewdney( Frankenstein (Lookingglass Theatre), Kasey Foster (The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Ballerina), Mark David Kaplan (Beauty and the Beast (Drury Lane) Ruchir Khazanchi (Legally Blonde (Paramount Aurora) and Nick Sandys (Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and Pride & Prejudice (Northlight). Mr. Dicken’s Hat originated at Northlight displays some beautiful song arrangements, and the singing, especially the harmony between the voices, is excellent. And we must point out the impeccable baritone voice of Nick Sandys, who plays Fleece and the Father. Most of them played multi parts and had several outfit changes. Catlin uses the phrase “The Willing Suspension of Disbelief ” to describe how he and the design team allowed the audiences to witness these changes with spinning twirls and comical antics on stage.

Hollinger also added some witty sound of aminals, featuring an invisible dog and Parrott. The Parrott sound effect was hilarious. The construction of train tracks on stage that looked unembellished was impressively brought to life with lighting, a whistle, with sound effects. Finally, Hollinger cleverly has the cast talk about items that weren’t around during that time period of this play and provided the year when it was invented.

Mr. Dicken’s Hat follows the story of Charles Dicken’s life, as he had to leave school at the age of 12 to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors’ prison. Although Dicken wrote five novellas, hundreds of short stories, and non-fiction articles, his novels (15) like Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist bring endless joy to people worldwide. But his Dicken’s most famous tale, A Christmas Carol, written in 1843, remains Britain’s favorite secular Christmas story, a play that can be seen yearly at Goodman Theatre.

The storyline starts a little lethargic, and some of the props (the black plastic curtains used for dark waters) don’t really work. However, Mr. Dicken’s Hat, a new piece at Northlight Theatre, is a hilarious, quick-witted masterpiece of proper casting with exceptional writing.

Legend has it that Charles Dicken’s once used the hat to carry water to the train wreck victims; however, the main point behind this story is that we are all the same beneath our hats. A universal message we all need to learn.

Let’s Play Highly Recommends Mr. Dicken’s Hat at Northlight Theatre.

Northlight Theatre
Mr. Dickens Hat: A Play with Music
Written and composed by Michael Hollinger
Directed by David Catlin
NOVEMBER 26, 2021 – JANUARY 2, 2022