Review: PIP at Wellington Repertory

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens was published back in July of 1860, his thirteenth and penultimate completed novel. It was turned into a musical back in 1975 in the UK and toured the UK and Canada, with a revised version making it as close as Sydney in 1991.

What debuted last night in Wellington was an original version of Great Expectations named after the main character Pip, with lyrics written by long time Wellington Repertory member John Golder, who sadly passed away before being able to see his work on stage and composers Katie Morton, Phoebe Caldeiro, Victoria Norgrove and Cameron Stewart.

John's wife Alison passed the libretto onto director Tanya Piejus who worked with the musical composers and two other lyricists in Talia Carlisle and Katie Morton to get the production to where it is today. To say that it is a labour of love is an understatement.

As we walked into the Gryphon, we were greeted with a set running length-ways, making the stage much wider, but hampering the depth of stage, which became problematic at times with such a large cast. Im not sure if the seating numbers are compromised with this stage set up, but it does give the feel of a much larger space, akin from moving from the old square tv to a more cinematic view.

The band were behind the set in full view and were in place when we arrived. The band was ably led by Saar Cohen-Ronen who was resplendent in a top hat and suit, becoming part of the character of the show. They never missed a beat and were excellent, however they were occasionally too loud for the vocals, that were performed without microphones. Natural sound is always preferred in a space as small as the Gryphon, but it requires careful balancing to ensure that the audience can hear the singers.

There was a large cast of 24 on stage and, even with the wider stage, they struggled to fit, though they were only all on stage during the finale and the curtain call. Some seemed underutilised and I wonder if such an expansive cast was necessary.

Chorus work was good and they sounded great when all singing together. There were some stand outs in the leads. I particularly enjoyed Devin Stinton as Young Pip, Freya Stinton as Young Estella, Alistair Davies as Older Pip and Katherine Keane as Older Estella. All put in a great effort and made the most of their time on stage. Victoria Nelson as Miss Havisham also performed well and Leon Beaton as Magwitch sang well, though sadly was hard to hear in key moments. Haley Roth-Brown as Herbert also put in a convincing acting performance.

The set was excellent with a table and chairs on one side and a platform that doubled as Miss Havishams house and Herbert's apartment on the other. The director used the space well and kept the scenes moving.  There was an issue with the space and props behind the table when a chase scene caused one of the cast to clip the props and they ended up on the floor with some breakages. This was well handled by the backstage crew who came on and cleaned up while the next scenes were on the other side of the stage. Commendation too for Pips sister (Stacey O'Brien) also helping to clear the debris after her scene was over.

The lighting was of a high standard overall, though there were times where I felt it was too dark, notably towards the end of the show in Herberts apartment when Magwitch was performing.

Costuming was very good and I can only imagine the amount of work that went into getting that many costumes stage ready.

While I felt that there were no memorable numbers (I didn't leave humming any tunes), the music was consistent throughout and there were none that felt out of place.

This was an ambitious production that Wellington Repertory and the cast and crew should be applauded for taking on.  I had not read the book, so all the reveals and the story were new to me.  I am now interested in picking up the novel. Condensing 544 pages into a show that runs for 2.5 hours (incl interval) would be no easy feat.

Tickets are available via the link below.

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