Press Release: The Dickens Project 2020

 
**The Dickens Project presents the New
and the Familiar, beginning December 4**

Second Life – The Seanchai Library is proud to announce the opening of The Dickens Project 2020 Edition. The Project began as a special seasonal presentation of Seanchai Library in 2008.  It transformed into an interactive environment in 2012, then to a full region experience in 2017. This year's two regions are inspired by the Victorian world of A Christmas Carol and other beloved tales, offering a broad spectrum of opportunities to explore, discover, and participate.

The Dickens Project presented over 80 hours of events during the month of December 2019, and this year's schedule is just as ambitious. Information is available on Seanchai's website in addition to other information that will be released during opening week. This year's two-region creation opens to the Second Life community on Friday, December 4th and will remain open through Sunday, January 3rd.
 
http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/p/the-dickens-project-sl.html

"Every year The Dickens Project intentionally blends the familiar features of previous years with new things waiting to be discovered," said Caledonia Skytower of Seanchai Library. "It helps our loyal visitors feel like they are coming home, gets them excited about what's new, and encourages them to share the experience with their friends. That's our goal. Each year the Dickens Project is just a little different. This year, with a second region, there is a lot that is fresh and new."  
 
The Dickens Project is also about a community of Second Life individuals and organizations that come together for this month long celebration. That community will again include Radio Riel, and Innsmouth SL. The Community Virtual Library will feature aspects of Victorian life from clothing, workers conditions, Dickens in Spanish, to The London Exhibition in a dedicated information district. Idle Rogue Productions will return with a new edition of their "Midnight Dinner" show, and Misfit Dance & Performance Art returns with "A Very Misfit Christmas" filled with seasonal joy. These are in addition to the live story reading programs which are Seanchai Library's hallmark.  
 
Virtuoso Performing Arts joins the community this year, presenting their new "Tales of Beatrix Potter" show New Year's weekend; and the SL Hawks Aerobatic Team will present their "Ghost Flights of Christmas" air show in performances in the skies above Dickens Harbour. That's right: an air show based on A Christmas Carol.
 
For inquiring minds, there is "The Horse in Victorian London", and "The Mine" interactive experiences. The later experience includes a ride through a mine with Sultan the pit pony and his coal carts. "Sultan" is a tribute to the name of one of the last pit ponies in Wales. Like their predecessor, the Urchin Experience (on hiatus this year), these experiences seek to balance the view of Dickens' world. "It's not all plum puddings and prize turkeys," says Skytower, "not for children, the working poor, women, or for animals."
 
The popular "Carol Week" returns with a section of Dickens' novella presented live each day in a "Story Tour" to the sites on the region inspired by the story. Saturday, December 19th features Fezziwig's Ball in the Opera House. The week culminates in The Big Read on Sunday, December 20th at Noon in Dickens Square. The Big Read is a relay-style presentation involving 9-12 voices in a continuous reading of "A Christmas Carol" from the beginning to the end of it.

"And this is just the tip of the iceberg," added Skytower, "We have art shows this year for the first time, and wearable horses and carriages that you can drive around on each region, and so much more. It's not a cliche'. It's really impossible to concisely summarize everything you can do, see, or experience at this year's Project. You just have to come and check it out for yourself."
 
Seanchai Library offers its thanks to Linden Labs and Patch Linden, our 2020 Region Sponsors.


About the Seanchai Library
Seanchai Library (pronounced Shawn-a-kee, which means "Storyteller" in Irish Gaelic.) was founded in March of 2008 in Second Life. The program remains dedicated to promoting the power of stories to transform and inspire through live voice presentations: "We bring stories of all kinds to life, in Second Life and other virtual worlds."  http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/


All times listed are SLT/ Pacific.

Announcement: This Week at the Senchai Libraries

CAROL WEEK at The Dickens Project begins Monday, December 17th. We'll be presenting multiple opportunities to hear Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL (in parts and in entire) all week, PLUS additional special events.  It's a little overwhelming actually, with multiple events happening every day.

HERE ARE SOME OPTIONS, so you to keep abreast of everything that's going on:

1) Refer to the Dickens Project page on the Seanchai Library Website. There's a text listing of the week's events and if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you'll find the Project Google Calendar.
http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/p/the-dickens-project-sl.html

2) Check the landing point at LEA 7. Events of the day will be posted there, and you can also connect directly with the Google Calendar.

3) Okay, if you MUST have a notecard, here it is!

** MONDAY, December 17th
           @ 2pm - Stave One:Marley's Ghost with VT Torvalar
           @ 7pm - Stave One: Marley's Ghost with Aoife Lorefield, Gyro Muggins, and Cybele Moon
          

** TUESDAY, December 18th
           @ Noon - Russell Eponym w/stories, music, & poetry
           @ 1pm  - Stave Two: The First of Three Spirits with Da5id Abbot and Caledonia Skytower
           @ 7pm - Stave Two: The First of Three Spirits with Kayden Oconnell
          

** WEDNESDAY, December 19th
           @ 1:45pm - Raglan Shire Tiny Carolers
           @ 2pm - Stave Three: The Second of Three Spirits with Aoife Lorefield
           @ 3- 4:30pm - Music - DJ Dano Bookmite
           @ 7pm - Stave Three: The Second of Three Spirits with Kayden Oconnell
          

** THURSDAY, December 20th
           @ Noon - VWER Tour with CVL
           @ 12:40pm - Raglan Shire Tiny Carolers
           @ 1pm - Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits with Caledonia Skytower
           @ 7pm - Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits with Shandon Loring
          

** FRIDAY, December 21st
           @ 1pm  - The Conclusion: The Last of the Spirits (selected) & The End of It with Caledonia Skytower and Kayden Oconnell
           @ 3:45pm - Raglan Shire Tiny Carolers
           @ 4pm - The Conclusion: The Last of the Spirits (selected) & The End of It with Aoife Lorefield and Da5id Abbot
           @ 7pm - A Very Misfit Christmas - Misfit Dance & Performance Art
          

** SATURDAY, December 22nd
           @11am-12:30 (approx) slt - Radio Riel Players Broadcast of “A Christmas Carol” (exact start may be up to a few minutes later) Click Here to listen to the Stream
           @ Noon - A Very Misfit Christmas - Misfit Dance & Performance Art
           @ 2-4pm slt - Fezziwig's Ball with DJ Dano Bookmite
           @ 7pm-8:30pm (approx) slt - Radio Riel Players Broadcast of “A Christmas Carol” (exact start may be up to a few minutes later) - Story Tour available on LEA 7


** SUNDAY, December 23rd 
           @ 11am - Wald Schridde live in Dickens Square

           @ Noon - THE BIG READ in Dickens Square

There will be postings of daily events in social media, in Stories Unlimited!, and in daily group notices. So stay tuned!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/128/131/22

Press Release: The Dickens Project 2018 Edition Returns to LEA 7

Second Life – The Dickens Project celebrates its sixth year in Second Life with a return to Linden Endowment for the Arts Region 7, where the annual celebration of Charles Dickens' seminal work first was realized in full region form a year ago.  Offering four weeks of exploration, storytelling, music, dance, a new "Urchins in Dickens London" experience, this Second Life holiday tradition will be open to residents November 30th, through December 30th.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/129/127/22

"What's new this year? There is no short answer to that," said Caledonia Skytower, "In almost every conceivable way, the Project has flourished in the full region format. This year was a team effort - our first real foray into collaborative build creation.  We learned a lot, and we are confident people will enjoy the results."  Skytower, along with long time Dickens creator Aoife Lorefield, Gloriana Maertens, and Dagmar Kohime worked together to transform prims and textures in a regionscape that evokes the spirit of Dickens' beloved work.          

Most evident to Dickens Project fans will be the new "Urchins in Dickens London" experience.  Created by Lorefield, the Urchins Experience invites residents to explore what life was like for a poor child in Victorian England. It's a game that combines elements of an SL hunt, free form (and optional) role play, and an invitation to create (and share) stories that the experience inspires.

"Charles Dickens was ever a champion of children, writing stories about those who were poor and unprotected," says Lorefield, "His child characters are often triumphant, finding ways to build lives of purpose and sometimes even happiness in a difficult time." Residents of all ages are welcome to participate, and will find information and the Urchins HUD near the main landing point in Dickens Square.  Inquiries should be directed to Ms. Lorefield. Additional information can be found on a special webpage http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/p/urchins-in-dickens-london.html .

To experience another new aspect of this Edition, just by turn on "sounds" in your Second Life Viewer.  A soundscape created by Dagmar Kohime will enhance the immersion of the region-exploring experience. Sounds of all kinds can be heard all over the region: a fiddler plays at Fezziwig's warehouse, the sounds of Nephew Fred's party guests wafts into the street near his home, and the Merchants Alley rings with sound of urchin laughter. The soundscape includes a special "Voices of the Story Path" hud that visitors can wear to hear short selections from "A Christmas Carol" in locations which corresponds to that selection from the story.

The 2018 Edition will include the customary presentations of A Christmas Carol in a variety of adaptations, in sections and in its entirety, and at different times to make the live readings accessible to residents from different parts of the globe.

Other works from within the author’s vast canon are featured in the weeks leading up to "Carol Week" (December 17-23), which climaxes in a marathon “Big Read” presentation of A Christmas Carol performed by a relay team of Seanchai staff and storytelling friends, scheduled for Sunday, December 23rd. 

Performances by Idle Rogue Productions, Misfit Dance and Performance Art, Russell Eponym, Wald Schridde and a host of other performers will add up to over 40 hours of events on LEA 7. In addition to these, communities participating in The Dickens Project 2018 Edition include: Ce Soir Arts, The Community Virtual Library, Elite Equestrian, Innsmouth - H.P. Lovecraft Inspired, Octoberville, and Radio Riel

"And we're not even done scheduling yet," Skytower points out.  Non-Dickens ghost stories, the Urchin Extravaganza, and a DJ Challenge will round out the days between Christmas and December 30th The schedule in-progress will be available weekly on the Seanchai Library website http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/p/the-dickens-project-sl.html. The daily schedule, information on all aspects of the Project, and calendar links will also be available on information kiosks at the main landing point.

In 1843 Charles Dickens prefaced his classic tale with these words: “I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”  He began the novella in October, completed it in less than six weeks. It went on to become the most successful book of the season, selling six thousand copies by Christmas and continuing to be popular into the new year. It is a book which has never been out of print.

The Dickens Project is produced by Seanchai Library (Shawn-a-kee, which means "Storyteller" in Irish), which was founded in March of 2008 in Second Life. Thousands of stories, and hundreds of authors later, the program remains dedicated to promoting the power of stories to transform and inspire through live voice presentations: "We bring stories of all kinds to life, in Second Life."