1 December – 21 January
There is plenty to recommend about this new telling of the Dickens’ classic. Writer Adam Peck and Director Heidi Vaughan have reworked the tale, giving it a distinctive and contemporary Bristol twist. The wonderfully named Defender Nyanhete plays the innocent child forced into criminality by circumstance, a reluctant foot soldier in the dastardly Fagin’s set-up. In his pocket he carries a locket that contains his parents’ portraits, and he dreams that one day he will be reunited with them.
We follow Oliver’s perilous journey from orphaned baby to the workhouse, then to the awful Sowerby funeral parlour where he is forced to sleep on an embalming table before he meets the Dodger, a dark opening sequence that could be challenging for the youngest theatre goers in the house.
Played ‘in the round’ with no scenery and just the dimming of lights to accentuate the passage of time, this production was carried aloft by sparkling performances all round. Beverly Rudd’s Fagin prowled the performance area with a mixture of menace and showiness, a believable rogue with a broad Bristol accent.
Next to her, the always funny and watchable Tom Fletcher as the (South Bristol) Dodger, a young crook with a heart, made for a perfect double act – with razor-sharp timing between them fun to witness. The Dodger was in fine panto mode as he weaved amongst the audience describing landmarks of Bristol while handing out… yep, you guessed it… Jammy Dodgers, a theme echoed on the stairs of the theatre by a giant version of the popular biscuit.
While we could enjoy the gentle buffoonery about these two, on the other hand we had a much straighter, more malevolent performance by Dan Gaisford as Bill Sykes who had the under 10’s in the audience quaking behind their mums. Shiquerra Robertson Harris gave a powerfully emotional interpretation of the compassionate Nancy, while Alice Barclay’s posh lady from Clifton, Miss Brownlow, added more local context and ultimately a sense of real redemption for the unfortunate Oliver.
With six actors playing 13 parts stretched across four different ‘acts’ within the play, there were multiple sequences that involved lightning fast costume changes – Fletcher getting spontaneous laughter and applause for one such swop-over which added to the general sense of fun. In this you could really get a sense of Director Heidi Vaughan’s and choreographer Laïlo Diallo’s injection of energy into the production.
Original songs by Seamus Carey and Adam Peck added to the depth of the piece: Run Away, Welcome To The Party, and others were given good voice with musician Alex Heane bringing atmosphere and punchy backing on electric guitar, keyboards and electronic bass, sometimes joined by Gaisford on drums.
This locally-styled Oliver Twist ticks a lot of boxes if you are looking for a warm-hearted feel good end-of-year story. But it also isn’t afraid of revealing how close we are to reliving some of Dickens’ most disturbing observations.
★★★★☆ Simon Bishop, 7 December 2023
Photography credit: Camilla Adams
