A blue plaque will be unveiled outside Birmingham Town Hall to commemorate the first ever public reading of A Christmas Carol, delivered by Charles Dickens himself.
The ceremony will be led by Birmingham actor Anton Lesser, known for roles in Wolf Hall, Endeavour, and Game of Thrones.
The public reading occurred in December 1853, and it's believed Birmingham Town Hall was among Dickens’s favorite venues for performances.
Lesser explained, “He aimed to make the event accessible for those who couldn’t afford tickets by lowering prices and clearing seats so as many people as possible could attend. It was a resounding success that marked the start of him touring his own works until his death.”
The plaque unveiling aligns with a special evening of A Christmas Carol featuring Lesser and the Orchestra of the Swan. The performance will blend spoken narration with musical interludes to bring Dickens’s beloved tale to life.
The blue plaque is being installed by Birmingham Civic Society as part of the broader Amplify Town Hall project, a refurbishment and archival initiative supported by nearly £124,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The project seeks to document and celebrate the remarkable history of Birmingham’s oldest events venue, according to the venue.
Nicola Gauld, co-chair of the civic society’s heritage committee, stated, “The Heritage Committee was intrigued by this story and firmly believed it to be a pivotal moment in Birmingham’s history that deserved commemoration and celebration.”
Tickets for the event are available through the B:Music website: https://bmusic.co.uk/book/instance/2091736.
