Charles Dickens (Author) was born in Portsmouth, England, and spent most of his childhood in London and Kent. His first novel, The Pickwick Papers (1836-37), was published in monthly serial installments and became an instant hit. In 1843, he published A Christmas Carol, one of the most popular Christmas stories of all time. Dickens was a prolific writer, and critics regard his later works as his finest. Some of these include Bleak House (1852-53), Great Expectations (1860-61), Oliver Twist (1837-39), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859). Dickens is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Jerry Patch (Adaptor) was affiliated with SCR from 1967-2005 and returned in 2014 as literary consultant. He served as dramaturg on nearly 150 new plays developed and seen at SCR including the world premieres of Abundance, Freedomland, Golden Child, Intimate Apparel, Search and Destroy, Three Days of Rain and Wit. He was project director for the Pacific Playwrights Festival from its 1998 inception through 2005; and, for seven years, he served as artistic director of the theatre program of Sundance Institute. As a professor of theatre and film, he taught at Long Beach City College, UC-Irvine, UC-San Diego, CSU-Long Beach and other institutions. He was consulting dramaturg for New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company for nearly a decade and left SCR to become resident artistic director for The Old Globe in San Diego. He is an artistic consultant, following seven seasons as director of artistic development, for Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, for MTC and South Coast Repertory.