29 roles originally performed by 6 actors

Actor 1:

• Davy: The young David Copperfield and our Narrator

Actor 2:

• Dr. Chillip: a kindly doctor
• Mr. Murdstone: Clara's new husband, a disciplinarian
• Steerforth: Davypopular friend at school
• Tailor: one of Mr. Micawber's creditors
• Teen: a wicked boy who steals Davy's belongings
• Tinker: a gullible gypsy who will do anything for a beer

Actor 3:

• Ham: Peggotty's nephew, a lad in his early teens
• Miss Murdstone: a spinster who dislikes children on principal
• Creakle: the Headmaster at Salem House School
• Mr. Micawber: a fun-loving, good hearted man between jobs
• Charley: a cranky pawnbroker

Actor 4:

• Clara: Davy's loving by weak mother
• Tungay: Creakle's handyman
• Will Micawber: a toddler, very taken with Davy
• Kid: Bystander at Charley's Pawn Shop
• Tinker's Wife: Davy's ally against her uncouth husband
• Janet: Betsey Trotwood young maid

Actor 5:

• Betsey Trotwood: Davy's powerful but eccentric Aunt
• Demple: One of Davy's friends at Salem House School
• Quinion: The manager at Murdstone & Grinby's bottling factory
• Baker: Another of Mr. Micwber's creditors
• Policeman
• Dolloby: a crafty pawnbroker
• Kid: another bystander at Charley's Pawn Shop

Actor 6:

• Peggotty: a maid and friend to the Copperfields
• Traddles: Davy's best friend at Salem House School
• Emma Micawber: loving, emotional, dramatic, wife to Mr. Micawber
• Mr. D: Aunt Betsey's companion, simple and good

Full ensemble except Davy enacts the Legends of Betsey Trotwood and may play chickens, dogs, rats, coachmen, factory boys, prison inmates, tramps, sea gulls, donkeys, and other extras as needed.

The following resources are included in each performance license:

• Permission to photocopy the PDF script/score for your production so there is no additional cost for these assets.
• Recorded production tracks for underscoring and backtracking.

Janet is a freelance director and playwright based in the Washington, DC, area dedicated to opening hearts, inspiring minds and igniting imaginations.  For 30 years, she served as the Founding Artistic Director of Imagination Stage (ISI), a regional theatre arts company dedicated to positive youth development.  Janet’s plays and musicals for ages 5-10 are adaptations of classic tales which she seeks to make relevant to contemporary American audiences.  Aladdin’s Luck with a score by Turkish composer, Fahir Atakoglu, has been produced from Hawaii to Pennsylvania.  Her versions of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Dickens’s Davy Copperfield all premiered at ISI.  In 2012 Janet partnered with Septime Webre of the Washington Ballet (now the Artistic Director for the Hong Kong Ballet) to create a dance theatre version of The Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe with original composition by Mathew Pierce.  The innovative production featuring both ballet dancers and actor/singers proved a tremendous success, garnering 5 Helen Hayes nominations and winning 2 Awards.  This was followed in 2016 by a second dance theatre adaptation of The Little Mermaid which broke all ISI previous box-office records.  In 2008 with the help of a TCG grant, Janet introduced Theatre for the Very Young to the USA with Wake Up, Brother Bear. She firmly believes in the importance of introducing live theatre to pre-schoolers such that they experience an impactful alternative to digital media.

Janet is the 2017 winner of the Harold Oaks Award for Excellence and Innovation in Theatre for Young Audiences, the 2024 Imagine Award, and the inaugural 2024 Adventure Theatre Leadership Award.  She currently serves on the Maryland Arts Council.

Website: https://janetstanford-directordramatist.com/

Originally produced by Imagination Stage in 2019