Reader Reviews
Great Expectations (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Charles Dickens never having been one of my favourite authors – probably the paradoxical result of a combination of being urged to read his works at school but of never having the opportunity to study them properly – I was somewhat apprehensive about how I would react to seeing the RSC's production of Great Expectations, especially since this was not one of the Dickens novels I had actually read and I did not even know the full details of the plot! The show was put on in association with Cheek by Jowl, and used an adaptation of the novel by Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan. A simple but very effective design principle governed the production, backdrops (a blank grey screen for the dank fogs of the Kent marshes, a wall of soot-blackened bricks inset with tiny windows for a dark London alley and a moth-eaten brown velvet curtain for the interior of Miss Havisham's house) being combined with individual furnishings – including a kitchen dresser in Pip's sister's home, a bookcase and desk in the lawyer's office and the table on which Miss Havisham's unused wedding cake, now covered in cobwebs, still stood – to indicate the various locations. Company members often acted as a kind of Greek chorus to the main action – sometimes describing a scene or even speaking parts of the lines belonging to other characters; sometimes just watching on as if they too were witnessing the story-telling and thereby creating a link between we in the audience and the stage that enhanced our sense of involvement in the performance. Samuel Roukin made a fine and sympathetic Pip, often commenting with an admirable air of detachment on the vagaries of the situations into which his "great expectations" (and his own false assumptions) tended to lead him, and capturing perfectly the ambiguities inherent in his relationships with Magwitch, Miss Havisham and Estella. In what was a fine ensemble performance, Robert Sloman's Magwitch (at whose death from illness before he could be hanged we were ultimately as relieved as Pip) and Sian Phillips's Miss Havisham (who, although she initially set out to use Pip, clearly came to feel as much affection for him as she could for anyone) also stood out. Overall, this was a very enjoyable production which, as well as telling the story of the novel, illustrated (without being too didactic about it) its elements of social commentary on the Victorian age. It also proved my anxieties about seeing it to have been completely unfounded. Whilst it did not make me want to rush out and buy the complete works of Charles Dickens to put on my bookshelf, it certainly left me far more inclined to revisit them than I had been before! - 194.75.129.200) | 30 Jan 06 |
| I'd forgotten how good Declan Donellan's productions are. This is fabulous story-telling. Nick Ormerod's lovely settings perfectly capture the place and period. The ensemble is faultless. Enthralling. - 86.130.212.180) | 15 Jan 06 |
| Beautifully done. Loved Harry Davies' performance as Young Pip, Brian Doherty's moving Joe and Richard Bremmer's sinister, multi-layered Jaggers. At time the chorus added confusion rather than clarity and the pace was somewhat too frenetic(presumably to bring the production to a close at a child friendly time). Wondered what the "Director of Puppetry" did to earn such a big credit in the programme as the only thing that looked remotely like a puppet was a five second appearance of a cow. Also I must have blinked and missed the "remote controlled boat" mentioned in the programme. Overall, an enchanting early Christmas present which reminds you how great a writer Dickens was and - when it's on form -what a great institution the RSC still is. - 213.40.131.65) | 20 Dec 05 |
| Characteristically Cheek by Jowl - pacey yet clear, unfussy yet visually interesting. Strong ensemble cast, with Brian Doherty outstanding. - 62.253.64.18) | 13 Dec 05 |
