The Mystery of Edwin Drood By Charles Dickens
An Educational Resource Prepared for Richmond Civic Theatre
By the Education and Outreach Committee
THE PLAY
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Apr 10-12 & 17-19, 2015
Book, Music, & Lyrics by Rupert Holmes
By permission of Tams-Witmark Music Library
Based on Charles Dickens’ final and unfinished novel from 1870, Edwin Drood is
a musical that’s also a murder-mystery, a Victorian melodrama, and an English
music-hall entertainment! The music is varied and stirring, the story has the
dramatic twists and memorable characters of any Dickens book. Everyone on
stage becomes a suspect in the murder of young Edwin Drood, and at every
performance the audience votes on how the mystery should end!
Directed by David Cobine
CAST OF CHARACTERS
As Drood is metatheatrical, the characters of the play The Mystery of Edwin Drood are played by actors of the "Music Hall Royale", within the production.
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Edwin Drood (Alice Nutting) – Prima donna portraying a handsome, popular, arrogant young man
John Jasper (Clive Paget) – The troupe’s male lead, an attractive cad & knows it
Bosa Bud (Deidre Peregrine) – Not-so-innocent ingénue portraying the young, beautiful heroine
The Chairman – Leader of the theatre troupe, acting as MC & narrator
Neville Landless (Victor Grinstead) – His premier performance, playing a passionate, hot-tempered young man from the Far East
(Ceylon)
Helena Landless (Janet Conover) – Accomplished actress portraying a mysterious, strong-willed young woman from the Far East
(Ceylon)
Reverend Crisparkle (Cedric Moncrieffe) – A perpetually smiling, kind, patient man (perhaps with secrets?)
Princess Puffer (Angela Prysock) – A seasoned favorite with lots of audience rapport, grandly portraying a London madam &
opium dealer
Durdles (Nick Cricker, Sr.) – Clown with a flair for vaudeville-style comic performing portraying the drunkard, slouching cemeterystonemason
Deputy (Nick Cricker, Jr.) – Young beginner in the theatre company – very funny, with a flair for song & dance, portraying an odd,
mean-tempered, ragged boy
Bazzard (Phillip Bax) – A devoted lover of the theatre, a long-time understudy in this company who gets his big break - playing a
sort of gloomy clown
Stage Manager Throttle
Wendy & Beatrice – Sincers from the theatre company, playing Rosa’s schoolmates
The Company of the Music Hall Royale – Singers who portray townspeople, servants, & opium den visitors,.
This wildly warm-hearted theatrical experience kicks off when the Music Hall Royale (a hilariously loony Victorian
musical troupe) “puts on” its flamboyant rendition of an unfinished Dickens mystery in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
The story itself deals with John Jasper, a Jekyll-and-Hyde choirmaster who is quite madly in love with his music
student, the fair Miss Rosa Bud. Now, Miss Bud is, in turn, engaged to Jasper’s nephew, young Edwin Drood. Our
title character disappears mysteriously one stormy Christmas Eve-but has Edwin Drood been murdered? And if so,
then whodunnit? Musical numbers include The Wage of Sin, Perfect Strangers, Both Sides of the Coin, Don’t Quit
While You’re Ahead and Moonfall. The giddy playfulness of this play-within-a-play draws the audience toward one of
the play’s most talked-about features, which allows the audience to vote on the solution as prelude to the most
unusual and hilarious finale! (http://www.tamswitmark.com/shows/the-mystery-of-edwin-drood/)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood won 5 Tony Awards in 1986 for Musical, Book, Score, Director, and Actor.
Scenes and Settings
The action takes place at the Music Hall Royale this evening. Opening comments by Your Chairman, Mr. William Cartwright,
immediately followed by the Music Hall Royale's presentation of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood."
Act 1: The Situation.
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Scene 1: The home of John Jasper at Minor Canon Corner in the cathedral city of Cloisterham, (England). A morning in late
December.
Scene 2: The conservatory at the Nun's House, a seminary for young women in Cloisterham High Street. Later that morning.
Scene 3: Cloisterham High Street, outside the residence of Mayor Thomas Sapsea. The following afternoon.
Scene 4: The opium den of Princess Puffer in the East End of London. Dawn, the next day.
Scene 5: Cloisterham High Street. That afternoon.
Scene 6: The crypts of Cloisterham Cathedral. Late that night.
Scene 7: The ruins of Cloisterham. Christmas Eve.
Scene 8: The home of John Jasper. A short time later.
Scene 9: Minor Canon Corner. Christmas day and night.
Act 2: The Sleuths.
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Scene I: Cloisterham Station. Six months later.
Scene 2: Cloisterham High Street.
Scene 3: The Voting; the Solution.
http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_e/edwin_drood.htm
THE PLAYWRIGHT
Rupert Holmes (born David Goldstein on February 24, 1947) is a British-born American
composer, singer-songwriter, musician, and author of plays, novels, and stories. He is widely
known for his number one pop hit "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" (1979/1980) and the song
"Him", which reached the number 6 position on the Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980. He is also
known for his 1985 Tony Award-winning musical Drood (originally The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
and his 2007 Drama Desk Award-winning book for the Broadway musical Curtains, and for his
television series Remember WENN.
See a complete bio of Rupert Holmes at http://www.rupertholmes.com/Rupert-Holmes-Bio.php
THE AUTHOR
Charles John Huffam Dickens (/ˈtʃɑrlz ˈdɪkɪnz/; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English
writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded
as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory
when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a
weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction
articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned
vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens's literary success began
with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an
international literary celebrity. - Wikipedia
Links of Interest
Charles Dickens Museum
Charles Dickens Page
Charles Dickens Quotes
http://www.dickensmuseum.com/
http://charlesdickenspage.com/
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Charles_Dickens
Dickens at Morrisson-Reeves Library
Here is a chronological list of the novels authored by Charles Dickens. The titles with a ** can be found in
Adult General Fiction at Morrisson-Reeves Library:
Pickwick Papers or the Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1836)**
Oliver Twist (1837)**
Nicholas Nickleby (1838)**
The Old Curiosity Shop (1840)
Barnaby Rudge (1841)
A Christmas Carol (1842)**
(The Life and Adventures of) Martin Chuzzlewit (1843)**
Dombey and Son (1846)
David Copperfield (1849)**
Bleak House (1852)**
Hard Times (1854)**
Little Dorrit (1855)**
A Tale of Two Cities (1859)**
Great Expectations (1869)**
Our Mutual Friend (1864)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)**
The following nonfiction titles can also be found at Morrisson-Reeves:
Title: Charles Dickens
A Penguin life: Penguin lives series.
by : Smiley, Jane.
Call Number: B D548s
Title: Charles Dickens : a life
by : Tomalin, Claire.
Call Number: B D548t
This biography gives full measure to Dickens's stature--his virtues both as a writer and as a human being--while observing his failings in both respects
with an unblinking eye.--From publisher description.
Title: The Victorian city: everyday life in Dickens' London
by : Flanders, Judith.
Call Number: 942.1 F579
Abstract: "Expert Victorian-era historian Judith Flanders explores the world portrayed so vividly in Dicken's novels, bringing life on the streets of
London to vivid, fascinating life. … Judith Flanders leads us through the markets, transport systems, sewers, rivers, slums, alleys, cemeteries, gin
palaces, chop-houses and entertainment emporia of Dickens' London, to reveal the Victorian capital in all its variety, vibrancy, and squalor. No one who
reads Judith Flanders's meticulously researched, captivatingly written The Victorian City will view London in the same light again"-- Provided by
publisher.
Title: What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew : from fox hunting to whist : the facts of daily life in nineteenth-century England
by : Pool, Daniel.
Call Number: 820.9 P82
Title: A Christmas dinner
by : Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Call Number: 394.2663 D54
General Note: The story "A Christmas dinner" first appeared in Sketches by Boz in 1836 after being published as "Christmas
Festivities" in a periodical entitled Bell's Life in London in 1835. This book comprises the short story, A Christmas dinner, by Charles
Dickens, the history of English Christmas customs and foods, and recipes for foods served at Christmas.
All of the above novels are in the public domain and so are available as online documents, ebooks, and Kindle editions for little or no
cost. In addition, The Puzzle of Dickens’s Last Plot by Andrew Lang is available in the above formats.
THE NOVEL: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level 8.0
Word Count: 106,149
Lexile: 1070-1100
Free Kindle Edition: http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Charles-Dickens-ebook/dp/B0082Z1VTE
Free e-book: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/564/564-h/564-h.htm
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by Charles Dickens.[1][2] The novel was unfinished at the time of Dickens's
death (9 June 1870) and his ending for it is unknown. The Mystery of Edwin Drood was scheduled to be published in twelve
instalments (shorter than Dickens's usual twenty) from April 1870 to February 1871, each costing one shilling and illustrated
by Luke Fildes. Only six of the instalments were completed before Dickens's death in 1870. It was therefore approximately
half finished.
Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, the story focuses on Drood's uncle, precentor, choirmaster and
opium addict, John Jasper, who is in love with his pupil, Rosa Bud. Miss Bud, Drood's fiancée, has also caught the eye of
the high-spirited and hot-tempered Neville Landless, who comes from Ceylon with his twin sister, Helena. Landless and
Drood take an instant dislike to one another. Drood later disappears under mysterious circumstances.
http://www.woodstockctcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Travel-route.jpg
Study Guides
One excellent study guide has beeb prepared by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis can be found at
http://repassets.s3.amazonaws.com/studyguides/drood.pdf
. It includes:
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“Who’s Who?” – an intriguing description of each character . . . and the character’s character(s)
“Words to the Wise” – definitions and explanations of terms & locations used the book including Cloisterham,
laudanum wine, Tombatism, and “upon my lights”
“What’s the Story?” – an in-depth explanation of what happens in each act
“Dickens on Music Hall” – Information on Victorian London and the popularity of music halls
“How well do you know Boz?” – a fun matching activity involving Dickens tales and plots
“Musicals, Composers & Librettists” (matching shows and composers) and “Now Isn’t It Punny” - word plays a la
Rupert Holmes
“Read More About It” – a List of other resources and links about the book, show, and composer
“Q & A” – an excellent list of discussion questions and activities for use BEFORE and AFTER the performance,
http://repassets.s3.amazonaws.com/studyguides/drood.pdf
Other online guides and resources:
http://www.enotes.com/topics/mystery-edwin-drood
http://www.bookrags.com/The_Mystery_of_Edwin_Drood/#gsc.tab=0
Biography with List of Works: http://www.gradesaver.com/author/charles-dickens
Readers’ Guide with Related Links: http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/readerguides/MysteryEdwinDrood_Dickens.html
eBook: The Puzzle of Dickens’s Last Plot by Andrew Lang
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/738
eBook: Dickens Study Guide: Who the Characters Are and What They Did by Lee Fisher Gray
https://books.google.com/books?id=6B1MBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=The+mystery+of+edwin+drood+study+guide+The+mystery+of+edwin+drood+study+
guide&source=bl&ots=G8IDm9uU2&sig=7NYswk5YyHXQ3XvWj7Tssh2jLO0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ud38VJuvMsOOyATyqIDwAw&ved=0CCMQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=The%20mystery%20of%20e
dwin%20drood%20study%20guide%20The%20mystery%20of%20edwin%20drood%20study%20guide&f=false
Indiana Academic Standards Related to the Study of The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Consider the evidence. Who do you think is the
murderer and what was the motive?
Character
Evidence of Guilt (Motive?)
Evidence of Innocence
John Jasper
Rosa Bud
Neville Landless
Helena Landless
Princess Puffer
Rev. Mr. Crisparkle
Bazzard
Durdles
Now that you’ve considered all of the evidence, who do you think murdered Edwin Drood and why?
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Bonus; Another possibility is that Dickens planned for Edwin Drood to return and he is not really dead. What details in the
book or play would support that Drood is still alive? _________________________________________________________
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