A Christmas Carol Benefit Reading to take place Dec. 6

Guilford will be the site of a unique benefit dramatic reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, presented in the style of the Victorian era by performing artist Al LePage, on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. in Joseph Bryan Jr. Auditorium, located in the Frank Family Science Center.

Using Dickens’ own historic public reading version of his classic novel, LePage will perform as “Englishman Thomas Hutchinson, Amateur Thespian,” a mid-19th Century actor.

The performance lasts approximately two hours. A one-hour version will be presented on Friday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. at Greensboro’s Church of the Covenant.

The program is best enjoyed by adults and children ages 10 and above. Admission is $10. Guilford College students will be admitted free with a valid college ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door or reserved ahead online at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

All of the proceeds will benefit the Clara House, a shelter for women and children domestic abuse victims operated in Greensboro by Family Service of the Piedmont.

“Given the themes of personal transformation and charity in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol,  it makes a lot of sense to donate my time and talents to benefit local non-profits and the work they do through dramatic readings of this particular story,” LePage says. “On an even more personal level, these may well be some of the most special performances I will ever do for two reasons. First, my aging mother's never seen me perform this particular story, so I've especially traveled across country to Greensboro so she can; it's this year's Christmas gift to her.And second, as a child in a family where she experienced domestic violence herself, I want to honor her and what she and her mother and brothers and sister went through by performing them to benefit Clara House.”

PARKING INFORMATION: Enter campus from the Arcadia Drive/George Fox Road entrance off of New Garden Road. The building directly ahead (with the observatory dome) is the Frank Family Science Center. Park in either adjacent lot and walk to the auditorium entrance to the building which faces campus, away from New Garden Road.

For more information about the performance, click here.

Dec. 1, 2008