Great Expectations (Villanova Players)
Ron Hurley Theatre
March 8 – 17
Classics are so for a reason and the final show matinee audience at Villanova Players’ “Great Expectations” appears to be in agreement, given how busy the Ron Hurley Theatre is with people wanting to see orphan and blacksmith’s apprentice Pip’s (Lachlan Gregory Hugh) journey from childhood to becoming a high society London gentleman, thanks to a bequeathed fortune from a mysterious benefactor.
Expectations (#nopunintended) of Charles Dickens’ timeless 1861 story of class conflict are perhaps subverted though director Jill Cross’ inclusion of a hybrid of interesting ideas. Janys Chambers’ 2019 script adaptation is not always efficient in of-the-time over-use of names and monikers like sir and boy as part of back-and-forth conversational dialogue and the provision of stage direction type information through a Greek chorus of call and response and round-robin repetition of information, may also drag things a little, however, these are counteracted by cleverness in a stylised approach to moving things along and showing passages of time. A pantomimic lens also finds the humour in Dickens’ social satire, making the work accessible to a modern audience.
Hugh’s Pip is it! He gives us a protagonist that is charming, likeable and noble in his resilience as he moves from boyhood to adulthood. He makes it easy for us to connect with this character, despite his dedication to the demanding Estella (Emily Summer), adopted ward of eccentric spinster, Miss Havisham (Linda Stevenson), whom the compassionate Pip pays regular visit. Ian Stevenson, likewise, brings comfort to the cheeky and protective Joe in contrast to his wife, Pip’s cantankerous older sister (a vibrant Helen Ekundayo) who is determined to raise Pip ‘by hand’. And Dean Noftke warms us to Herbert Pocket’s genuine nature, as he guides Pip as to the manners and etiquette needed for his new London life of tailor visits, walks in the park, luncheons, theatre visits and alike.
Like any good Dickens story, not all is as it seems as, stemming from a chance encounter with escaped convict, Abel Magwitch (Trevor Bond), an array of characters’ stories eventually intertwine. Even condensed from Dickens’ vast novel, though, this is an epic story of many characters, which requires some doubling of roles amongst the cast. Lia Surrentino and Desley Nichols’ costumes work well to signpost such transitions, as well as to journey both characters and the audience to the eventual Victorian London setting of Pip’s new gentlemanly world.
Cindy and Luke Monsour’s lighting (and sound) design similarly work with projections to heat the blacksmith shop of Pip’s apprenticeship and, contrastingly, cool the opening graveyard scene where Pip’s orphan status and unusual name are established. While projections vary is detail and thus impact, the production does well to create a sense of time and place, even with its limited sets, such as Act Two’s open to entry from the audience, of the ensemble in establishment of the now London setting of about-to-turn-21 Pip’s coming of age and wealth. It is a reminder not only of the story’s essential theme of social class (comparative to loyalty and conscience), but the charm at the centre of the theatre group’s 2024 season opener.
Blue Curtains Brisbane 