OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, 14 April 2008

Paul Morrow (Herbert Pocket), Richard Conlon (Pip), Susan Coyle (servant) in Prime Production's Great Expectations (photo - Marc Marnie)

ON PAPER, ‘Great Expectations’ is almost too calculated a plot to convince. The wild coincidences and entwined stories of orphans adopted into changed circumstances would strain credulity in a soap opera. But it works for Shakespeare, and it works for Dickens too.

Somehow, back in 1988, Jo Clifford managed to distil the rambling story into a scant two hours for TAG, diving into the plot to bring back the essence as a dramatic, coherent story of class and cruelty which was as relevant then, at the tail end of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, as when first written in 1861. After a decade of Labour government, in Prime Productions’ extremely capable hands the story continues to resonate today.

Beginning at the end, or at least, at one of Dickens’ endings with Pip and Estella walking around Miss Havisham’s old house, the play was presented as a flashback, fast-paced and shot through with humour. Director Ben Twist kept his actors on stage throughout the action, sitting on chairs at the side to produce music and soundeffects, using anything from bodhrans, cello, flute and cymbals to pens and sharpening steels. It changes the energy of a performance; the actors become both participants and observers, breaching that invisible wall that divides them from the audience and drawing the latter deeper into the action.

This show premiered at the Byre Theatre at the end of January and has been touring ever since, from Skye and Stornoway to the Borders, so it was completely played in and the performances by the seven strong cast were as smooth and polished as any director could possibly desire. Dougal Lee as Joe (doubled with Wemmick) was the warm, honest heart of the play, balanced by Jenny Lee as Miss Havisham.

Richard Conlon as Pip and Susan Coyle as Estella managed to age and grow from childish caricatures to rounded human beings. Pauline Knowles (Mrs Joe/Biddy/Molly), Paul Morrow (Magwitch/Herbert Pocket) and Ronnie Simon (Jaggers/Wopsle) provided satisfyingly well-judged support throughout.

Monika Nisbet’s excellent, minimal set design used little more than twin, transparent sails – their shapes evoking those of the old Thames barges – a dark door, and a wooden box, placed on a mirrored floorcloth which lighting designer Elizabeth Powell used adroitly. As always in theatre design, less is more, and locations from Thames-side marshes and humble cottages to grand houses and dank prison cells were vividly conjured.

Credit for this is due also to the exemplary soundscape design by David Fennessy, where even the slightest sound had been thoroughly thought through. Most memorably effective were the harsh sounds of sharpening knives and the scritch-scratch scribbling of pen nibs, but the sound of a bow drawn on the edge of a cymbal will haunt my dreams for weeks… .

This was my second visit to the OneTouch Theatre , having sat enraptured through Scottish Dance Theatre’s ‘Defined 2008′ (reviewed elsewhere by my esteemed colleague Georgina Coburn) two days before. The 264 seater was full, with an audience covering the entire age range from secondary school upwards, all of whom were enjoying themselves hugely.

The architects have succeeded in creating a wonderful space for dance and theatre, combining sleek modern styling with an auditorium which is comfortably intimate. Although it is still so new, OneTouch already, through some strange architectural alchemy, has an atmosphere all of its own on the second visit it felt like visiting an old and dear friend. I can’t wait to see whether the space works as well for music. Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen anything there yet, do yourself a favour and go as soon as you can.

© Jennie Macfie, 2008

Links

• Prime Productions
• Eden Court Theatre