Oliver Twist

Synopsis

Classic story of crime, poverty, vice and a young innocent orphan in London. Some of the most celebrated villains in English literature (Artful Dodger, Bill Sykes, Fagin).

Our Review:

Dave Jordan - 7 December 2009

This world premiere production by the Giant Olive Theatre Company certainly delivers a new 'Twist' on a well-known tale. Writer/adapter Piers Beckley, in going back to the original, has found the dark heart of the story, which director Ray Shell fashions into something genuinely disturbing and totally enthralling.

This is Dickens as Dickens intended, a thriller steeped in atmosphere with traces of black humour, where the stark characters that inhabit this world are brought vividly to life by an ensemble cast to die for. Tired, worn set pieces are omitted in order to present a fresh insight as we move swiftly from the Workhouse and Mr Sowerberry's to the heart of the matter - Oliver's escapades in London and the forces that abound to engage him in a life of crime.

Andrea Hooymans' set design is a fine example of less is more; the drabness of the grey walls, hung with broken fragmented images of London, serves as a background that accentuates the appearance of the chara...

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