Great Expectations, Vaudeville - review

The first full West End stage production of the Dickens classic is broad and plodding
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 04: Paula Wilcox as Miss Havisham attends a photocall for 'Great Expectations' at Vaudeville Theatre on February 4, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)***BESTPIX***
14 March 2013

Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations spans 28 years — and about 180,000 words. But Jo Clifford’s adaptation, the first full stage version to appear in the West End, condenses this much-loved book into just over two hours. Naturally, though still disappointingly, some of Dickens’s lovingly drawn characters are omitted; others are reduced to footnotes, and the emphasis is on melodrama.

The appeal of Dickens’s story isn’t completely lost in Graham McLaren’s production. There will always be something poignant in the transformation of Pip (a role shared by Taylor Jay-Davies and Paul Nivison) from a humble blacksmith’s apprentice to an urbane gent. Yet we’re never deeply invested in his journey, and the darker effects of his changed circumstances are too briefly explored.

Everything here is broad. Mr Wopsle, the church clerk with lofty thespian ambitions, resembles the Joker from Batman. Herbert Pocket, Pip’s genial London friend, comes across as a giddy poseur perching strangely on a mantelpiece. There are decent performances from Chris Ellison as a gruff Magwitch and Paula Wilcox as a cruel yet somewhat flirtatious Miss Havisham. But the style is declamatory, the exposition clunky, and the key confrontations have little bite.

The aesthetics owe a good deal to Tim Burton — Gothic and a touch whimsical. There’s a single, detailed, cobwebby set by Robin Peoples: lighting and sound are used to suggest the story’s varied locations. This makes sense, though the cinematic cutting between scenes doesn’t always work. More problematic are the excessive use of white facepaint and an enthusiasm for walking all over the furniture.

Laudably, profits from the production will benefit a charity, the Dickens Legacy, which promotes causes such as literacy and prison reform. But that can’t obscure the fact that this is a plodding show.

Until June 1 (0844 482 9675, greatexpectationstheplay.com)

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