Bleak Expectations
Criterion Theatre
Charles Dickens undoubtably, one of the world’s famous authors, greatly influenced our literature and society, inspires this theatrical high paced comedic romp through 19th century London, with slight nods at various novels (not all by Dickens) along the way. Bleak Expectations was originally an award winning BBC Radio 4 comedy spanning 30 episodes has been adapted for the stage by creator Mark Evans and is currently playing at London’s Criterion Theatre.
The company are joined each night by a guest narrator. The list covering their season is impressive, creaming the best of British comedy, Lee Mack, Stephen Mangan, Stephen Fry to name just three. They narrate the tale as an older version of our hapless hero, Pip Bins. Last night we were treated to Sally Phillips as the narrator who although is more famous on screen, proved she was just as accomplished on stage as she sported a cumbersome handlebar moustache delivering her lines with grace, poise and assurance.
The Narrator introduces the cast, Pip the younger (Dom Hodson) and his siblings Pippa (Serena Manteghi) and Poppy (Rachel Summers). When their father is shockingly killed (ahem… by Penguins) their lives are torn apart and shortly before he is due to inherit the family fortune, Pip is incarcerated in St. Bastard’s boarding school, by his guardian, the dastardly Gently Benevolent (John Hopkins). We follow the family’s adventures from riches to rags and back again.
The first half hour of Bleak Expectations is slick and entertaining, the rest of the show doesn’t fare as well with scenes held together with a handful of puns and jokes that are repeated constantly in case they were not understood the first time. Despite this, Bleak Expectations is by no means a chore, the comedic timing and general characterisation from the each of the cast is admirable and the physical comedy from Serena Manteghi and Marc Pickering in particular is delightful to watch.
Katie Lias’ staging is lovely, with a cascade of books for stairs and the use of talking portraits and an opaque storytelling mirror to forward the narrative was fun to watch.
The guest narrators are a smart move from the producers, It will be interesting to see how each comedians e.g. Tom Allen (18-23July) and Jack Dee (25-30 July) will bring their personality into the role. Each of the 16 guest stars will, I am sure, present themselves differently. More importantly bringing in valuable ticket sales encouraging the possibility of repeat visits.
The night is entertaining enough and certainly worth going to see if your favourite comedian is narrating. However, slick editing is needed and possibly compacting the show into one act would keep the audience on board throughout.
⭐⭐
Reviewer: Sammi O’Neill
Guest Narrators
- TOM ALLEN
- ADOJA ANDOH
- ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG
- JO BRAND
- JULIAN CLARY
- JACK DEE
- CRAIG FERGUSON
- STEPHEN FRY
- NISH KUMAR
- ROBERT LINDSAY
- LEE MACK
- STEPHEN MANGAN
- BEN MILLER
- DERMOT O’LEARY
- SUE PERKINS
- SALLY PHILLIPS
- NINA WADIA