November 8th -
December 22nd, 2013
A Perfect Likeness
Written & directed by Daniel Rover Singer
Can Oxford's most reclusive photographer get London's hammiest novelist to sit still for 60 seconds?
"A PERFECT LIKENESS" is a sparkling new comedy in which "Alice in Wonderland" author Lewis Carroll invites celebrity novelist Charles Dickens to sit for a photographic portrait, resulting in a hilarious and revealing meeting of two very different Victorians. "So lovely and entertaining that you want it to be true," said the Winston-Salem Journal about the show's premiere in North Carolina last April.
This production stars Bruce Ladd and Daniel J. Roberts, who performed the show to great acclaim in a recent, run at Actor's Co-op in Hollywood. The show's not just for literary fans: it's a spirited encounter between a nervous, young photographer and a bombastic, grouchy bon-vivant. The conversation crackles with wit as the men overcome differences and a mutual appreciation develops - along with the glass-plate photographs Carroll takes to capture "a perfect likeness" of Mr. Dickens.
There's mature content but teachers and students over 12 have given their stamp of approval. Playwright Daniel Rover Singer, famed founder of the Reduced Shakespeare Company and co-creator of the rollicking farce "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," directs this production of his new play.
"Aficionados of either writer will appreciate the scenario’s biographical detail, but this isn’t a biopic and you don’t have to be interested in 19th-century British literature to appreciate the play’s odd-couple jousting and emotional poignancy. " -Deborah Klugman, LA Weekly
"Charles Dickens meets Lewis Carroll, literally, in “A Perfect Likeness” at Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena. This beautifully appointed two-hander about the authors of “Great Expectations” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” isn’t exactly deep-dish, but it should appeal to those seeking a pleasantly literate 90 minutes in the theater." - David C. Nichol, LA Times
"Likeness‘s strengths lie in its wistful dialogue between the rooted-in-the-dirt Dickens and the head-in-the-sky Dodgson regarding relationships, aesthetics, taboos, and personal fulfillment. Bruce Ladd turns in a fiesty, boisterous performance as Dickens, while Daniel J. Roberts stands toe-to-toe with Ladd matching him beat-for-beat with his contrastingly measured, nebbish, and innocently odd Dodgson." - Jesse David Cort, Stage and Cinema.
