GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Charles Dickens, adapted by Michael Shamata (Soulpepper). At the Young Centre (50 Tank House). Runs in rep to August 17 see schedule at soulpepper.ca. $51-$68, some rush. 416-866-8666. See listing. Rating: NNN
Charles Dickens was one of the best storytellers in the English language, but theatrical adaptations of his novels can be tricky. The page’s many rich details can’t always be duplicated on the stage.
Director Michael Shamata’s version of Great Expectation is largely successful at presenting the swirl of action and characters that thread through the book. At times, though, there’s not enough breathing space to take in the fast action or see character development.
At the story’s centre is Pip (Jeff Lillico), a poor, rural orphan for whom the world opens up when a mysterious benefactor provides him with money and a London future of “great expectations.”
He’s surrounded by fascinating people, including the convict, Magwitch (Oliver Becker), Pip’s abusive sister and kindly brother-in-law, Joe (Deborah Drakeford and Oliver Dennis), the reclusive Miss Havisham (Kate Trotter) and Estella (Leah Doz), trained by Miss Havisham to break men’s hearts.
There are at least a dozen others in the tale, some making a strong impression, others barely casting a shadow.
The action, flowing in a filmic way, takes place in the round on Shawn Kerwin’s largely bare set, except for a brick chimney and several chairs that represent gravestones, London streets and other identifying markers, all atmospherically lit by Steven Hawkins.
Lillico, rarely offstage, expertly reveals Pip’s emotional and physical journey. He’s believable as a seven-year-old and as the aged narrator, glowing with happiness or stricken by loss.
Trotter, presenting a rough-voiced Miss Havisham, sometimes emphasizes the ethereal quality and sometimes the anger in this woman long ago jilted at the altar. Doz’s Estella is sensuous but reserved her portrayal of Biddy, another young woman interested in Pip, has all the warmth to counter Estella’s coolness.
The scenes between Dennis and Lillico are among the production’s best. Dennis gives Joe the play much of its heart, while in the second act he makes Wemmick, clerk to lawyer Jaggers (C. David Johnson), a more complicated personality. Drakeford’s Mrs. Joe is brutal and nasty, but not nearly as scary as her Molly, Jaggers’s silent housekeeper with a surprising history.
Johnson brings a dour comedy to Jaggers, punctilious about what he will and won’t reveal, while John Jarvis offers laughs as the self-centred Uncle Pumblechook and Wemmick’s aged parent. Paulo Santalucia’s outgoing Herbert Pocket is a best friend one could be proud of, and Jesse Aaron Dwyre Inline image 1radiates danger as the supercilious Bentley Drummle.
Shamata’s direction often paints vivid pictures, but the action doesn’t really start until Pip first visits Miss Havisham’s house. The early scenes setting up Pip’s relationship with the escaped Magwitch move too quickly to be dramatically resonant.
