One performer brings a passage from the novels of Charles Dickens to life alone, judged on characterisation, voice and storytelling within a set time limit.
Charles Dickens Solo is an individual drama and speech item in which one performer presents a prepared passage taken from the work of Charles Dickens. It is a literary class as much as an acting one: the words are a Victorian author's, so the entrant has to make nineteenth-century prose sound like a living person talking, with no scene partner, set or accompaniment to help.
In the festival template that carries it, the class is run in school-year bands rather than by exact age. It is offered for Year 7-8, Year 9-10 and Year 11 and over, with no class published for the youngest primary band, and the time limit grows with the band: four minutes, then five, then six. Boys and girls compete together, the performance is in English, and one overall mark out of ten is the nominal score the template carries.
A round is straightforward. Performers are called in order, announce the novel or the passage if the syllabus asks for it, perform from memory or as the rules allow, and leave. The adjudicator watches the whole piece and awards a mark with written comments. Because Dickens wrote long, richly described scenes, the first decision is the cutting: a good entry picks one episode with a clear situation, a memorable voice and a change in mood, and trims it so it ends cleanly inside the limit.
Organisers run the class because it pairs drama with reading. It gives pupils a reason to study a classic text closely, rewards character voices and comic timing, and sits naturally beside a general dramatic solo class for the same age bands, where the choice of text is open. A separate duologue class for two performers uses the same author.
Where Charles Dickens Solo is run
In eTalenter's data this item appears in one template, an English town festival of music, speech and drama whose syllabus includes a Dickens section for solo and paired entries. It is a niche class, so treat any other festival's version as its own item and read its rules on text, cutting and time before preparing.
- United Kingdom - England (competitive festival drama and speech sections)
Key facts
- Individual entry; boys and girls compete together within each school-year band.
- Three bands only: Year 7-8 (about ages 12-13), Year 9-10 (14-15) and Year 11 and over (16+); no class is published for Year 5-6.
- Performed in English, with a time limit of 4, 5 and 6 minutes for the three bands in turn.
- Nominal score is one mark out of 10; the template prints no criterion breakdown, so ask the organiser how the mark is built.
- Different from the open Dramatic Solo class (any suitable text) and from the Charles Dickens Duologue, which needs two performers.
- Idea starters, not rules: a workhouse supper scene, a Christmas Eve ghost visit, a dinner with an overbearing relative, or a courtroom cross-examination, each cut to a single episode.
On eTalenter, Charles Dickens Solo is filed under Action and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Charles Dickens Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to 4–6 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Charles Dickens Solo
What a Charles Dickens Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Characterisation: a distinct voice, posture and attitude for each person in the passage, held steady so the listener always knows who is speaking.
- Understanding of the text: sense is clear, emphasis falls on the words that matter, and long sentences are paced so the meaning lands rather than being gabbled.
- Voice and diction: audible, varied speech with confident handling of period vocabulary and names, and no loss of clarity when switching voices.
- Storytelling and shape: a clear beginning, a build and a definite end, with narration and dialogue balanced so the episode feels complete.
- Stage presence and time discipline: focus, controlled movement and a finish inside the band's limit; overrunning is a common way to lose marks.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Charles Dickens Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full mono act judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Charles Dickens Solo
How entrants and their teachers usually get Charles Dickens Solo right on the day:
- Choose a passage with one clear event and two or three speaking characters, then cut hard; Dickens can be generous with description that a four-minute piece cannot carry.
- Read the whole chapter first so you know what the character wants and what happened just before, then mark where the mood changes.
- Give each character one easy-to-repeat voice choice (pitch, speed or accent) and one physical habit, and keep them consistent.
- Practise the long sentences aloud, breathing at the commas, until the meaning is obvious without looking at the page.
- Time every run-through and aim for slightly under the limit for your band, leaving room for nerves and a slow first line.
- Perform to a friend who has never read the book and ask who spoke, where it happened and what changed; rework whatever was unclear.
- Check the syllabus for rules on printed copies, props, costume and whether the piece must come from a named novel, and prepare only what is allowed.
Frequently asked questions
Is Charles Dickens Solo judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
Does the passage have to be from a Charles Dickens novel?
The class name says the material is Charles Dickens, so expect to choose a passage from his work. The exact rules on novels, short pieces and adaptations are set by each festival, so check the syllabus before choosing.
How long can a Charles Dickens Solo be?
In the template that carries it the limit is 4 minutes for Year 7-8, 5 minutes for Year 9-10 and 6 minutes for Year 11 and over. Other festivals may differ.
Is this the same as the Dramatic Solo class?
No. Dramatic Solo lets the performer choose any suitable dramatic text, while this class is built around a Dickens passage, so the literary choice and the cutting are part of the preparation.
Is there a class for younger children?
Not in this template: no Year 5-6 class is published for the Dickens section, so the youngest band starts at Year 7-8. Younger entrants can use the general dramatic solo class instead.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full mono act judging criteria guide, or browse every action competition item.
Try Charles Dickens Solo in eTalenter
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