Friday 14 October 2011

Review: Theatre

Great Expectations Neil Bartlett, Watermill Theatre, dir Paul Hart 

Larks! An encounter on the Kent Marshes changes Pip’s life and fortunes. His great expectations take him to London where he learns to be a gentleman; where he loves the cold-hearted Estella from afar;  and where he wrestles with his growing priggishness in regards to kind-hearted Joe. Great Expectations is a classic Dickens story. It has everything. It naturally translates to a theatrical setting and Neil Bartlett’s adaptation is robust. The company do well under the direction of Paul Hart, Associate Director of Propeller, with some inventive business to create internal worlds, sounds, which make this a very expressionistic re-telling of the story. The difficulty is that you admire the skill rather than engage with the action, and Pip, Edward Hancock, is too casual to really convince…..Nonetheless, a must for Dickens’ fans……. 

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