Bleak Expectations, Dickens’ First Draft

Stories Alive—Planetarium

I will start by saying my knowledge level of Dickens’ work is mediocre at best, I could name most of his books and some of the characters, but I am largely unfamiliar with the main plot arcs of all but a couple of his works. This means I am certain I missed a number of references to various plot lines and character in-jokes that were included in this Dickens mash-up. However, even as someone with a more casual acquaintance with the source works, I enjoyed this quick twelve chapter story by Eden Ballantyne and his performance was top-notch in his reading and portrayal of Charles Dickens and a baker’s dozen of his characters.

Murray Hunter