Dickie's Got His Hans Full

Saturday, February 21st, 3pm at Barter's Smith Theatre

It's the summer of 1857 and not all is right in Charles Dickens' country home. His frazzled wife struggles with their 10 kids, he's rehearsing a play in their living room in preparation for a royal performance, and he can't seem to begin a new novel about the French Revolution. Into this chaos comes an unexpected visitor: Denmark's famous Hans Christian Anderson, complete with eccentric personality, quirky social skills, and bizarre Danish traditions for every occasion. Announcing his wish to stay "only a fortnight", Hans ends up staying five unpredictable, odd-ball weeks. Based on true events, DICKIE'S GOT HIS HANS FULL is a farcical clash of cultures about literature, lovers, and cake.

Written by: Todd Olson

Todd Olson's produced plays include I Left My Heart (Milwaukee Rep), Casa Blue, the last moments in the life of Frida Kahlo (American Stage), and My Way (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville). His Beatle Girls enjoyed its world premiere last season at the Blue Ridge Community Theater. Althea & Angela toured North Carolina and Tennessee with WordPlayers in 2022; it will have productions this season in New Jersey and Florida. Joe Corso Re-Enters from the Wings won the Holland New Voices Playwright Award at the Great Plains Theatre Conference.

Todd’s new adaptations include Lysistrata, War of the Worlds, Dracula (premiered at the Arkansas Shakespeare Festival), and Agatha Christie’s The Secret of Chimney’s, Murder on the Links, The Murder of Roger Akroyd, and Hercule Poirot and the Mystery of the Christmas Ruby.

Todd received his M.F.A. from The University of North Carolina, and is a graduate from the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard where he took classes with David Mamet, Peter Sellars, Andrei Serban, Robert Scanlan, Robert Woodruff, Anna Deveare Smith, and Robert Brustein, among others. Todd has been a Teaching Fellow at Harvard, and taught classes at Vanderbilt, Boston University, and the University of North Carolina.