Review: BLEAK EXPECTATIONS, Criterion Theatre

It's always welcome to see a little show that's done good: from a BBC Radio 4 comedy series, to Newbury's Watermill Theatre, Mark Evan's Dickensian parody Bleak Expectations now has a home in the West End.

We meet young Pip Bin whose happy life is shattered when he is sent to cruel boarding school St Bastard's after his father's death. He follow his various scrapes as he escapes to save his inheritance and his sisters from the dastardly attentions of villain Gently Benevolent (yes the nominative determinism is alive and well, albeit often reversed) and become a huge success by... inventing the bin.

Satire and parody are hard to maintain, particularly if it is lampooning a particular period in history. Pride & Prejudice (*sort of) does it brilliantly. Here the comedy is varied; the physical slapstick is well done, but the narrative can veer into the repetitive and thin. However, there are also several genuinely funny moments, most of these completely down to the excellent timing and delivery from the highly energetic and capable cast.

Sally Phillips guest stars as the narrator, in what is an appealing rotation of various well-known faces in the role throughout the run. Her cod-serious delivery is heavy on irony and she copes with the weaker jokes well. Dom Hodson is incredibly affable and perky as Pip Bin and Serena Manteghi ably handles some of the best physical comedy as his wannabe feminist sister Pippa.

John Hopkins gloriously dials up the pantomime villain role of Gently Benevolent to eleven (using a kitten as an ink well is a particular highlight) and Marc Pickering is excellent as the four Hardthrasher siblings, showcasing a dazzling array of facial expressions and vocal ticks.

You need know very little, if anything, of Dickens' work to appreciate the humour in the work, although a few more knowing references would be welcome for the Dickens afficionados. The format worked originally as a series of comedy shorts on the radio, but on a West End stage, it feels overinflated and just too long. A judicious amount of editing would sharpen it up no end; some jokes are repeated once too often and the plot meanders wildly at points.

Katie Lias shows again that she is one best designers in the business at the moment with a gloriously higgledy-piggledy set, based on a Victorian living room crammed with books and decorated with vibrant turquoise and pink (nicely reflected in the programme and publicity's colours). Ella Wahlström's sound design also effectively ramps up the cartoon quality of the production.

There is lots to enjoy here; the constant silliness means there nothing serious in the show, but that is exactly the point. As the saying goes-it's more puff than pastry, although ironically, it runs out of that too.

Bleak Expectations is at the Criterion Theatre until 3 September

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan

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