Tag Archives: Charles Dickens

In the same week that Stephen Schwartz’s mega-hit, Wicked opened at Manchester’s Palace Theatre, Aria Entertainment and the City’s Hope Mill Theatre announced that his musical Rags written with Joseph Stein and Charles Strouse will open at the acclaimed fringe venue in March 2019. As well as producing Rags, Hope Mill Theatre and Aria will also next year be presenting ...

Writer: Deborah McAndrew Based on: Charles Dickens Director: Mark Babych Set/Lighting: Ciaran Bagnall Costume Designer: Sian Thomas Composer: John Biddle Reviewer: Ron Simpson In the programme, Deborah McAndrew explains some of the challenges of adapting a novel for the stage. Obviously, the quantity of material is a problem, but so, too, is structure: the episodic nature of Dickens’ novels, in ...

Writer: Neil Bartlett Director: Mark Calvert Reviewer: Chris Collett Northern Stage’s Christmas shows could never be accused of lacking in ambition. 2016’s James and the Giant Peach and last year’s Alice in Wonderland were supersized affairs performed on cavernous sets, which thrilled audiences with a frenetic mix of live music, physical theatre, and dance. A Christmas Carol uses the same ...

Adaptation: Tom Morris Director: Lee Lyford Designer: Tom Rogers Music/lyrics: Gwyneth Herbert Reviewer: Julia Beasley Could this be the perfect antidote to even the most grudging grinches at yuletide? Bristol Old Vic’s steampunk musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ festive tale has a raucous vibe that will surely banish the Christmas blues. Curmudgeonly money-lender  Ebenezer Scrooge runs a bleak house on ...

Author: Charles Dickens Creators: Alexander Wright and Tom Bellerby Reviewer: Charlotte Broadbent A two-man show is a tall order for any actors, and to take on such a well-loved classic is all the more daunting; to then go on and place it in an immersive setting is quite the feat. To set it as an immersive production and remain in ...

Writer: Charles Dickens Adaptor/Lyrics/Director: Lou Stein, Music: Dave Carey Reviewer: Sophia Moss Let’s take a trip to a slightly steam-punk version of the 1930s: the banks have crashed, the people are hungry, and somewhere in a tiny London office Ebeneezer Scrooge is shouting at his clerk. Lou Stein’s version of A Christmas Carol has time travelled from the mid-1800s into the Great ...

Writer: adapted by Deborah McAndrew from the novel by Charles Dickens Music: John Biddle Director: Amy Leach Choreographer: Lucy Cullingford Reviewer: Janet Jepson The former West Yorkshire Playhouse, and indeed the whole area where it stands, is undergoing a makeover and when the re-vamped space re-opens in summer 2019 it will be amazing. In a reversion to its old name, ...

Adapter: Ken Bentley Director: Sophie Boyce Couzens Designer: James Turner Reviewer: Bethan Highgate-Betts After their success with Travels with my Aunt and Our Man in Havana, Tilted Wig Productions and Malvern Theatres Present return with Charles Dickens’ much-loved classic, Great Expectations. The last stop on their five-month tour, Ken Bentley’s adaptation is at Exeter Northcott for five days. Adapting Dickens’ ...