Dickens had a keen interest in the supernatural and, as a great performer of his own work, caused more than one of his more sensitive readers to faint or run screaming from the building when he read this piece aloud.
Although Hislop was a keen student performer, and took a revue show to Edinburgh with Imogen Stubbs, he is not, says Wheen, "a great one for showbusiness".
A keen actor and performer with his mother in a local drama group, Cummings also hopes the experience will help him get into the Brit School for Performing Arts.
Ms. Winthrop has a keen eye for performers: Renée Archibald, Charlotte Gibbons, Jennifer Lafferty and Jessica Ray (later joined by the gamin Daniele Paloumpis) are studies in alert, intelligent presence.
But the performers were keen to press on.
Mr Bock is keen on choosing top performers from state universities.
He has directed a previous adaptation of the play, and was keen to keep the performers in corseted period dress to maintain the humour of the elaborately choreographed hijinks.
My experience within the cultural field, whether as a writer, performer, broadcaster or keen consumer, is that this country is very ambivalent about "culture".
We remove facial hair!" It's a keen observation from a veteran performer who has honed a highly successful solo act for years.
These days, things are more equable: a generation of orchestral musicians has grown up enjoying pop and rock with unashamed relish, and there are any number of capable string sections keen to feature alongside chart performers.
