4 – 29 November
Red Rope Theatre company returns to the atmospheric venue of the Anglican chapel within the grounds of Bristol’s most evocative of cemeteries.
Following earlier productions including Turn of the Screw, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Fall of the House of Usher, they are firmly back on familiar gothic ground, this time with an adaptation of Dickens’ Great Expectations.
In choosing this particular setting the show begins long before the actors take the stage. Crunching your way from the warm modern café built above the old crematorium ovens towards the chapel, it is tempting to suspect that chills are creeping up your spine. The moon peeks out above carved angels and … is there someone hiding behind the broken column gravestone? Perhaps it is the enigmatic Magwitch.
The virtue of this family run company lies not only in selecting appropriate material and locations, but in having the skill to adapt them faithfully and produce something that is exciting, dynamic and, most of all, highly professional.
Matt Grimer has once more taken on the role of adapting the play and wisely decided to focus on the more standout characters of the original story, including the aforementioned Magwitch, Joe Gargery, Estella, and Miss Havisham.
In its condensed form, the plot highlights the brutality of the Victorian class divide. Rebecca Robson as the fearsome Miss Havisham not only seeks vengeance for being jilted at the altar but clearly enjoys mocking Pip’s naivety and low birth. That the cast comprises only four actors, with all except Toby Ineson as Pip taking on several parts is the least of their achievements. Ineson, making his professional stage debut, is an innocent, all bright-eyed and forthright, but with an inherent kindness that he cannot forsake. When, in the second act, as he tries to turn himself into a gentleman, he feels embarrassed by the uncultivated Joe but he does not treat him unkindly.
Danann McAleer is a highly accomplished actor, transforming seamlessly between his roles. He switches in an instant between the almost bestial desperate convict Magwitch and gentle Joe Gargery, which adds to the sophisticated layering that the novel radiates.
Robson is a commanding presence as Miss Havisham, at times coquettish, but always scheming, only to end up frail and defeated.
The casting of Georgina Russel as Estella is perfection. She is the ideal of the haughty, proud, and cruel girl, yet is capable of demonstrating genuine regret.
Director Harry Gould has done a magnificent job in marshalling action. The audience face an altar bedecked with a rotting wedding breakfast including towering cake and enough props and set to convince. There were occasional moments when the menace could have been heightened, notably the somewhat curtailed fire at Satis which consumes Miss Havisham, but these are minor quibbles. A large mossy path leading from the altar to the grand Chapel door provided a suitable stage for a variety of activity on the marshes and in London.
A marvellously spirited production which will satisfy Dickens purists and still set the heart racing and blood boiling. Bravo!
★★★★☆ Bryan J Mason, 8 November 2025
Photography credit: Craig Fuller
