Skip to main content

Review of Great Expectations by The Royal & Derngate Actors Company at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton


Market Boy from The Actors Company last year was a remarkable show and is likely to stay with me for a long time, so following it with this year's production was always going to be a tough call and with their production of the epic Dickens classic Great Expectations, they at least didn't lack ambition.

I have to be honest, things for me didn't start well. The first few minutes of this adaptation by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod is a busy and convoluted sequence moving the opening part of the story in an unclear and often irritating way. For those present not aware of the original story, I wouldn't envy them trying to keep up with what is going on. However much of the trouble of this opening sequence is quickly corrected as scenes become more defined and controlled and the story is allowed to develop at a slower pace.
Steve While (Compeyson)

Perhaps also in the early part, it doesn't help either that the gender-swapped Magwitch played by Salli Bersham is a little too full on with the old dialect and character persona and important dialogue is often lost in delivery. It is a brave and interesting choice to switch this character (what next, a female Doctor? Oh...) and it offers an interesting spin on the original storyline, and Bersham despite being a bugbear for me in the opening scene is much better when she makes her later return when the character has become more controlled.

Our main character with the Great Expectations Pip meanwhile is played first in a great youthful way by Ben Webb and then later becomes in the more mature version, Davin Eadie in a quite incredible sequence of song and movement, my favourite scene of the play. Eadie provides as ever a hugely confident and endearing performance as Pip, commanding every scene he is in and effortlessly becoming young Pip with a twinkle in the eye. I have to admit that for whatever reason I did not warm to either performer as Estella. It is true that she is a tremendously unlikeable character, however even allowing for this, I really did have trouble believing their performances despite the fact that both were, without a doubt, solid ones, if a little stilted for me.

Ben Webb (Young Pip) and Salli Bersham (Magwitch)
There was as perhaps always seems to keep happening from Stewart Magrath, another excellent performance, this time as lawyer Jaggers, bringing life into every scene he appeared in and stealing the eye in his expressive confident delivery.

Also living and breathing her role as always was the tremendously perfectly cast Sue Whyte as Miss Havisham. Yes, you have little admiration for this, due to circumstances, also unlikeable character, however, Whyte manages to imbue enough endearing nature into making you feel for her plight despite the way she treats those around her.

Two characters you can't help but love though is Joe Gargery (Mark Faray) and Biddy (Helen Gibb). Both actors bring so much loving nature to the roles that you can't help but want to cuddle them. Gibb, especially I haven't seen better than in this role, and she takes part in a gorgeous scene with Pip that it full of wonderful simmering emotion.

As well as the main roles, several of the company popped out of the ensemble during the show to create some highly likeable miniature performances. Erica Mynard was clearly having tremendous fun manning up as the stalking and thuggish Drummle, and there was a hugely entertaining scene at the club which also featured a great little performance from Jo Watts as Startop. Jo had previously also been superb in a clever piece of hat changing, character changing, as two petitioners (one male, one female). Ryan Chambers was clearly having too much fun playing the over the top thespian Wopsie, however, the fun translates with relish to the audience during his brief but hilarious scenes. Also popping silly fun into her personal moments in the limelight was Liz Vokes as exuberant watchman and counsel.
Seated: Sue Whyte (Miss Havisham) and company

Director Erica Martin nails with bravery the high ambitious way that this play takes on the challenge of keeping each of the 25 actors on stage for the entire duration of the show. Not a way to make the directors job easy, but there is a clear confidence in the cast to be strong enough to keep in character for a 140-minute performance. The ensemble becomes Pip's inner thoughts throughout the piece and members of them intermittently express them from the group. Within this, there are also some excellent scenes where they all come to one and react as Pip in reacting to events. This is represented no better than in the early second act scene between Pip and Magwitch, with the full company responding expressively to each revelation with a pull of face and expression of movement.

As expected in the Royal, it both looks and sounds great with a typically perfect set design from Meryl Couper, both full of every prop and furniture item required, and yet allowing the large cast the space to breathe. Lighting is also subtle but a delight and mostly succeeds with the challenge of making sure that this large cast to correctly lit at the right times.

So at the end of the night, Great Expectations was not quite another Market Boy, however I doubt few things ever will be for me. However, it was, a solid and tremendously clever evening of theatre, ambitiously staged by its director and well performed by a talented bunch of actors who clearly have every confidence in one another in the only way a close knit community group often can. Expectations were great and I did not leave disappointed.

Performance reviewed: Friday 14 July 2017 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.
Great Expectations by the Royal & Derngate Actors Company was performed between Friday 14th and Saturday 15th July 2017
For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

Photos: Graeme Braidwood
Vicky Kelly (Wemmick) and Davin Eadie (Pip)


Popular posts from this blog

Review of The Brittas Empire at Stantonbury Theatre, Milton Keynes

Those old enough to remember may have recollections of the nineties sitcom The Brittas Empire , written by Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss. Starring Chris Barrie, the wacky series follows the exploits of Gordon Brittas, the man with a dream and a leisure centre in Whitbury New Town to fulfil it, despite the numerous consequences that result. I loved it, and when I heard that MKTOC (Milton Keynes Theatre of Comedy) were to produce the world premiere of the stage show at Stantonbury Theatre, I had to be there to see it. Adapted by Steve Clark (who also directs) and Emma Dell (who also plays the neurotic Helen Brittas), they have put together a loving and fully understanding script based on stories and situations from many episodes, which are ideally suited for the stage. Taking on such a unique show is dangerous for both adapters and cast. Still, the group has perfectly pitched the characters so that they are instantly recognisable from those we remember on screen. Rob Simpson takes on ...

Review of War Horse at Milton Keynes Theatre

Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse was published in 1982. While it was highly regarded and thought to be his best work, perhaps it eventually came to most people's attention when this striking play stormed the stage, thanks to the National Theatre, back in 2007. Now, War Horse arrives at Milton Keynes Theatre as part of another vast UK tour. Adapted by Nick Stafford in association with the award-winning Handspring Puppet Company, War Horse tells the story of the First World War through the eyes of one horse, Joey, sold for a record price from a family battle but eventually shipped off to war-torn France much to the distress of his original owner, 16-year old Albert. The sprawling and epic story should take some staging, but the vast cast, beautiful structure, stunning folk music and, of course, what this play has become known for, magnificent puppetry, all bring the story to life. This production, directed by Tom Morris and revival director Katie Henry, is a magnificent thin...

Review of Immune by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The cover note for the script of Oladipo Agboluaje's Immune describes it as "a challenging science fiction play with a large cast", and the word challenging in this case is not a lie. This is a fast paced, multi-cast changing script which leaves little room for error for its young cast in the performance. If the script isn't enough to handle for the young performers, director Christopher Elmer-Gorry and designer Carl Davies have made the situation even more complex for the actors with the set and stage work. Having to manhandle great panels on wheels and a huge cube, which also splits in two occasionally, during scene changes requires skill, coordination and cooperation of a high level. As if all this is not enough, the actual story is epic enough for the relatively small stage of the Royal. Attempting to form an apocalyptic world (albeit only happening in Plymouth) offers challenges in itself, but Agboluaje's script does that in a sort of apocalypse in the teac...