Oliver! at Chichester Festival Theatre review – Revival, Glorious Revival

Cameron Mackintosh has a lot of history with Lionel Bart’s wonderfully British and colourfully iconic musical. It’s where it all started for the uber-producer, and now as he revisits the piece once again, he is taking it back to its sinisterly grimy roots. Whilst it is far from reinvention, it is still revelatory and refreshingly earthy, as he and director Matthew Bourne uncover the darkness beneath the inescapably chirpy Lionel Bart score.

The Chichester Festival Theatre stage can be unforgiving and presents challenges to designers unlike any other. Lez Brotherston has worked sumptuous magic with his dazzling stage ingenuity to create an everchanging landscape of Dickensian London that is as efficient in its function as it is evocative in its rendering. A multitude of stage revolves and a slickly travelling bridge all add to the visual feast that ambitiously load the thrust stage with a glorious canvas onto which Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs have created a beautiful lighting design. It’s a dazzling watch.

Bourne both directs and choreographs his brilliant company (a nod here to Felicity French and Paul Wooller for some knockout casting) with an eloquence of movement that fills the stage and creates some wonderfully vibrant moments of storytelling. Huge song and dance routines fill every square inch of stage space with rollicking fun and energy. “Consider Yourself” and “Oom Pah Pah” are genuine moments of pure theatrical pleasure that will leave you exhausted just watching.

The mildly absurd elements and coincidences that occur in Dickens’ novel are often made even more glaringly ridiculous within Bart’s book, but they are more than countered by the richly drawn characters that fill the familiar story. Oscar Conlon-Morrey is a blissfully swaggering Mr Bumble, all bluster and regret with just an edge of odiousness. Katy Secombe serendipitously plays Widow Corney (her father, Harry, was Mr Bumble in the 1968 film version) with a rumbunctious clout about her. Stephen Matthews and Jamie Birkett are a comically shadowy Mr and Mrs Sowerbury.

Simon Lipkin is an impressively vigorous and sometimes frantic Fagin. Part Shylock and bigger part Captain Jack Sparrow, Lipkin exacts some wonderful comic moments and delightfully embraces a fourth-wall-breaking persona that manages never to detract from his dastardly character. His criminality is second only to his captivating demeanour, and whilst the gang leader is abusive and rotten, Lipkin manages to bring genuine moments of conscience and regret to his ferocious performance. Although Bart himself was Jewish, heavy criticism was levied at him over the Jewish caricature that Fagin represented. Mackintosh’s revisions have removed the more problematic facets of this and Lipkin’s performance feels celebratory rather than mocking of his Jewish heritage.

The complicated machinations of Nancy are given emotional depth by Shanay Holmes. As Nancy chooses to remain loyal to the abusive Bill Sikes (Aaron Sidwell), Holmes gives everything to her rendition of “As Long As He Needs Me”, and takes the Chichester roof off not once but twice as she reprises the heart wrencher. Holmes gives a powerhouse performance and sings with heartfelt desperation.

At press night, it was the young and perfectly pitched Cian Eagle-Service as the titular orphan. Eagle-Service was a complete standout at the National’s The Witches last year and proves to be quite the young stage presence. Perhaps a name to watch for in the future with this thoughtful and unfussy performance. He shares the role with Raphael Korniets and Jack Philpott.

A 13-piece orchestra under the direction of Graham Hurman provides a superb sound to Stephen Metcalfe’s impressive orchestral adaptations. Metcalfe has brought the familiar score to new life with some magic reworkings and additions. It sounds great!

The creative team have genuinely breathed new life into this staple of British musical theatre. It’s a joyous celebration and a genuine feel-good show. It already has its West End transfer secured, so even if you think you are already too familiar with it, give it another go, you might just be surprised!