Review: Great Expectations – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 21 Feb, 2018
Updated on: 21 Feb, 2018

Nichola McAuliffe plays Miss Faversham

By Ferenc Hepp

Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is a story that has a bit of everything, including themes of love, friendship, coming of age, hope and joy even murder. But for me this production was disappointing.

It has been brought to the Yvonne Arnaud by Katherine Senior and Matthew Parish, who were the team behind Our Man In Havana last year. They are now back in Guildford this week under their newly formed Tilted Wig Productions company in conjunction with Malvern Theatres.

Great Expectations is Dickens’s penultimate completed novel, set in the early nineteenth century, and describes the adventures of an orphan called Pip over 30 years of his life – from the age of seven when we first meet him at the graves of his parents.

Walking into the auditorium about to watch a Dickens classic, the set design by James Turner surprised me. I was expecting something quite grand and realistic, however, we see a square box in the middle of the stage with a metallic frame and ramps on two sides.

But every bit of this frame is well utilised with large doors that open up to reveal Miss Havisham (Nichola McAuliffe), an upper level where a lot of the music comes from, a playing area inside and outside of this box and numerous props secreted throughout the structure, some of which are used for sound effects.

Does this unusual setting enhance the production? I am not sure. It is quite atmospheric and Richard Williamson’s lighting adds to this.

The main issue I had is that the restrictions of the set make it difficult to portray a complex story and differentiate its numerous locations.

Narration does occur throughout the piece but there is such a lot to get through that it can be difficult to follow. Some of the scenes feel rushed and the action has moved on before we have the chance to absorb what we have just seen.

However, there are some good performances here. McAuliffe is suitably mysterious and eerie in her old wedding dress, and good versatility is shown by the company who have to take on numerous characters in both acts.

James Camp and Eliza Collings particularly stand out as they engage with their various characters and James Dinsmore fits very well into the era with his characteristics and often humorous portrayal. A bit of humour that is very much needed as otherwise the rather wordy scenes can feel monotonous, too long and lacking emotion and engagement.

On the plus side the incidental music, composed by Ollie King who plays a number of instruments throughout the show, works well.

If you are a Dickens afficionado, very familiar with the story of Great Expectations, you may get more out of this show than I did. For me, as someone with only knowing a small amount of background and wanting to discover more, it did not work.

There were a number of younger audience members in attendance too, which is always good to see, but the reaction was generally mixed. I feel this is a missed opportunity to make a Dickens novel more widely appealing. That’s a shame.

Great Expectations runs until Saturday 24 February and tickets are available via the website: www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk or by calling the box office on: 01483 440000.