In Tinderbox we reimagine a unique and significant moment in literary and personal history - the meeting between world-celebrated popular 19th-century authors, Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875) and Charles Dickens (1812 -1870), both of whose works continue to delight today. Tinderbox dramatises, as far as possible using their own words, the explosive moment in July 1857, when the twofamousmenmetatDickens'familyhomeinKent. Whatdidthesetwooutstandingbutvery different storytellers have in common?

Thanks to the generosity of crowd-funder donations, White Knight was able to put on a cabaret- style ‘Platform Performance’ of work in progress at Camden People’s Theatre, London, in January 2025 – marking the 150th anniversary of Andersen’s Death.

Audiences commented:

“Moving and complex and beautifully put together and performed."

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dramatic careers with musical stageworks - Andersen with Love in Nicolai Tower (1830) and Dickens with The Village Coquettes (1835). Both loved music, drama and storytelling as long as they lived.

In an age when Art seems more necessary to humankind than ever, the well-received platform performance in January 2025 represents the first phase of Tinderbox’s evolution into a full-blown production. With Katey Dickens, Charles’s daughter, who became a professional painter, we ask: "Can Art save the world?"

Engaging contemporary music, with a romantic flavour, frames comedy, mesmerism and gothic performance-interludes, revealing the literary passions which make the work of Andersen and Dickens so relevant today, as well as the tensions between the authors, against the background of the crisis Charles and his wife Catherine face in this momentous year.

ANDERSEN AND DICKENS

Andersen, whose mind had been set from his early years on going on the stage, trained as a singer, dancer and performer in Copenhagen, participating in dance interludes and ’walking on’ in many performances, though he never in fact became a professional actor. He first earned a living adapting stories from a number of languages into Danish libretti for various composers, before travelling widely and turning his full attention to writing travelogues and fiction. The “Tales of Wonder Told for Children”, on which his renown rests today, became staple Christmas books as they appeared annually, volume by volume, and were performed on the Copenhagen stage.

Dickens was a larger-than-life character, like his own fictional creations - an amateur actor all his life (who, like Andersen, had once aspired to becoming professional), and a keen mesmerist, as well as a journalist, playwright and novelist. Dickens married Catherine Hogarth, a talented and passionate young woman from a celebrated musical and literary family, who, as well as giving birth to 10 children, published a book of dinner menus and recipes designed to feed from 6 to 18 guests, created to entertain her husband’s wide circle of literary friends, frequent visitors to the household.

Both Andersen and Dickens created “stories which furnished reading for children and grown people” - as Andersen put it - “the children making themselves merry for the most part over ... the characters, while older people, on the contrary, were interested in the deeper meaning”.

Both had begun with aspirations to act; both wrote character-based stories with imaginative power that has given their work huge and lasting impact. Both much-travelled, they admired each other’s writing and shared literary tastes and political views. This significant moment in 1857, when they lived together in Dickens’ family home for a few weeks, one hot English summer, lends itself to rich dramatic and musical treatment - offering a new perspective on both public and private life.

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Our Vision:

We're passionate about bringing this magical moment in 1857 to life in a fully-staged production. We have brought together a talented team to breathe life into what we believe will be a striking, multifaceted fully-staged drama, honouring the creative spirit and offering a new perspective on Andersen and Dickens by introducing this little-known, moving and illuminating episode to as wide an audience as possible.

Tinderbox is conscious of its role in championing the arts in a contemporary way, in honour of the authors who inspire it, not only by reanimating the imaginative legacy and charm of these two literary icons, but also by giving ear to the quiet voices of Catherine Dickens, too easily backgrounded by her husband’s very public fame, and their daughter Katey, who went on to a long and fruitful career as a professional painter, mainly of portraits.

We hope you, too, believe, like Dickens and Andersen, in the power of words, music and performance to communicate an inspiring vision. With Tinderbox, we want to present something truly magical, unique and unforgettable.

How it all started

In 2018, I (Stephen Guy Daltry) noticed a small article online about the writer Hans Christian AndersenbeinginvitedtoCharlesDickens'housein1857andoutstayinghiswelcome. Ithoughtthis meeting between two world-renowned writers who shared a number of attitudes and interests but who were separated by a language barrier, would make a wonderful subject for a chamber opera, weaving in fairy tale with the reality of Dickens' strained relationship with his wife at that time, his publication of 'Little Dorrit', the novel set in the London debtors' prison where his father was incarcerated when Dickens was 12 (obliging young Charles to leave school to work for the family); and Andersen's own quixotic hopes for the publication of a philosophical novel in English, that same year.

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Maureen was immediately attracted to the subject not only by a love of the works of these two great imaginers but also through her interest in Catherine Dickens, Charles's wife, with whom, after 23 years of marriage and 10 children, relations were no longer romantic, and his young actress protegee, Ellen Terney.Using some recently-published and little-known material, she researched both Catherine and Katey Dickens, to show these women at a turning point in their lives.

We hope that this musical work for the stage, a chamber opera revealing a significant moment of change in the lives of all its music- and performance-loving characters, will be enjoyable, memorable and thought-provoking.

The completed version of Tinderbox hopes to fully unfold a fresh perspective, revealing unexpected insights into these complex creative beings and their relationships, casting new light on their lives and work, revealing its relevance to a wide audience today.

Some audience comments on the January 2025 work in progress platform concert performance:
" The quality of voices, music, lyrics are what I will take away from the performance - I would like to

see it in a theatre set. I loved it - would see it again. Thank you!"

“Vocally, I thought the performance was outstanding. I enjoyed the classical, theatrical style of music. I also thoroughly enjoyed the minimalist staging and subtle acting choices conveyed through small, seated movements which added to characterisation.”

“I had a ball! Really enjoyed it. All performers equally strong. Keep up the good work! Thank you!”

"Great singing! Very interesting piece. A picture of affluent British life in the 19th century. ”

“Moving and complex and beautifully put together and performed. Complete in itself (a very Sondheimian presentation!) which worked as a chamber opera and although it would be lovely to dramatiseitfurther,itwouldn’tbecompletelynecessary. Therichnessofthelanguageandthemusic made the minimal staging very effective because the audience can really concentrate on the text and performance.”

“Great structure and expressive storytelling through a combination of spoken word and song - with a highly effective combination of individual voices and contrapuntal vocal lines expressing the drama.”

“Comic and moving, Hans Anderson’s visit to the Dickens family provides the comic framing to explore art and poetry, love and betrayal. I look forward to its next outing.”

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