David Copperfield Play

David Copperfield
This is one of a series of plays based on Charles Dickens’ books, What the Dickens!
• A Christmas Carol
• Oliver Twist
• David Copperfield
• Great Expectations
• A Tale of Two Cities

Oliver Twist is co-narrated by the narrator and Fagin, to illustrate what life was like in Victorian England. This one, David Copperfield, is co-narrated by the narrator and Charles Dickens, drawing many parallels between his own life and that of David Copperfield.

Cast of 15 speaking parts
Duration: Around 15 minutes
Suitable from age 10 upwards, this is a set of scripts written with Key Stage III in mind. I will be adding further teaching resources in the near future. It is my aim to make these great classics accessible to young people and adults alike*Scroll down for review.
Sample Text:
Scene 5 Mr. Wickfield’s House
(Mr. Wickfield looking old and frail, sitting in chair, with Agnes hovering over him in concern. Uriah Heep stands to the side, looking very pleased with himself, offering Mr. Wickfield one glass of wine after another)
Uriah Heep: (Refilling Mr. Wickfield’s glass with wine) There you go, dear Mr. Wickfield. Just say the word! Anything I can do to help!
(Enter David, taking glass off Mr. Wickfield and glaring at Uriah Heep)
David: I’ll take that, thank you very much!
Uriah Heep: (Gasping) What do you think you are doing?
David: Saving Mr. Wickfield and his lovely daughter, that’s what (pauses) from you!
Uriah Heep: Whatever do you mean? How dare you just flounce back into our lives after waltzing off to Switzerland!
Agnes: (Gasping) Ooh, Mr. Heep! David was hardly ‘waltzing off to Switzerland’ out of choice! He’d just lost his beloved wife, Dora!
David: Indeed! And without your kind support, as always, Agnes, I would never have made it through that dark time!
Mr. Wickfield: Ah, you and Agnes were always so close! Like brother and sister!
David: But times have changed
(Agnes gasps in horror)
Agnes: Have I done something to upset you?
David: It’s not what you have done, beloved Agnes! (Turning to Uriah Heep) Just look at what this fiend has been trying to do to your father!
Uriah Heep: (Gasping) What do you mean?
David: You know perfectly well what I mean! Poisoning him with all this alcohol! Just so that you can help yourself to his daughter!
Uriah Heep: (Smugly) There are worse fates than being married to me, I can assure you!
David: You think so? Hmm. I think we’ll agree to disagree on that one!
Review: Sue Russell’s plays are faithful to their originals yet also brilliantly condensed without any loss of key material.