OLIVER!

Photo: Johan Persson

When the annual summer season at Chichester Festival Theatre is announced all eyes are on what major musical they will be tackling. This year the excitement was tangible when word was out that Matthew Bourne and Cameron MacIntosh would be presenting a brand new and in their words, re-conceived version of Lionel Bart’s Oliver!

There is no doubt that the pairing of the two, with between them such an impeccable track record, that this was going to be exciting. But that word re-conceived was just a little… well not worrying as such but intriguing. Bourne has never shied away from rethinking a classic and has always pulled it off, and his work on the staging of Mary Poppins was simply fabulous.

But Oliver? What could you do in the way of re-conceiving it.

Well the truth is clear to see in this breathtakingly lavish new production. I would say the re-conceived is not the right word, what they have done is restored, revitalised and perhaps even rescued the show and breathed new life into it. Had you thought that it was going to be changed in any other way do not fear, this is the pure and energetic heart of Bart’s masterpiece, and after all Bart had already re-conceived Dickens by taking his dark 1837 tale of misery and adding songs and humour.

The show is destined for the West End of course, that was always part of the plan, but to see it at CFT is a must and the brilliant staging is seamless and totally captivating. Designer Lez Brotherston’s set is incredible in every sense and scenes emerge and shift from the back onto a series of revolves seemingly without effort, the detail is incredible and we are immersed in the seedy world of early Victorian poverty and then privilege. There is a level of familiarity in the costuming, Dodger is as we have come to know him visually as is Fagin and the boys, but that is in a way comforting.

All this is simply first class, as one expects from a CFT musical, but then the whole is lifted to new heights. Firstly Stephen Metcalfe’s new orchestrations present those much loved and very familiar songs with a new power and the music which is almost continuous is peppered with the themes and motifs that we know so well to great dramatic effect, it is a triumph that does not dispense with the original, but revisits it with renewed vigour.

Secondly, but no means least, the casting. The ensemble is superb, no doubt chosen for their ability to cope with Bourne’s choreography but as always at Chichester cast and appropriately aged, no skinny kids in grey wigs, here we get all ages and sizes, a kind of inclusivity seldom seen. It all adds to the reality that this production instills in the story.

Photo: Johan Persson

Few people will be unaware of the film cast, much of it has become iconic, but how wonderful it was last night to have an Oliver who can sing, such purity and clarity, of course the company has out of necessity three cast in the role but we had Cian Eagle-Service, a wonderful voice and an accomplished performance all round. And of course Fagin’s gang has three teams, all no doubt brilliant but last night there was a stand out performance from Aaron Zhao whose cheeky tiny presence as Sid won the hearts of the audience at every appearance.

Photo: Johan Persson

Oscar Conlon-Morrey as Beadle Bumble balanced the darkness of the role with the humour and with skill, and what a rich voice! Stephen Matthews was hauntingly hideous as undertaker Mr Sowerby with just a touch of Robert Helpman’s child catcher about him and Jamie Birkett’s undertakers wife is a shrill norther harridan, delightful. Callum Hudson’s Noah Claypole was delightfully repellent cruel and lascivious and Bethan Keen’s Charlotte well matched as she played to his overtures and taunted Oliver.

The Artful Dodger plays such a major part in the tale and requires so much skill, he’s a boy that has to take on a man’s role in a world where childhood is short-lived. As a performer it requires both maturity but also a sense of boyishness and innocence. Billy Jenkins has both, cheeky, caring and huge amounts of energy and he brings to the role a freshness.

Photo: Johan Persson

Nancy has the best songs in the whole show in my view, I’d Do Anything and Oom Pah-Pah have comedy of course, but As Long As He Needs Me is heartbreaking, and needs a performer who can deliver it with not only great voice but great acting skills. Shanay Holmes, well what a star! Every note, every gesture… simply put she inhabits the role, you believe that she can be torn between her moral core and her love for Billy Sykes.

And what of Sykes, the glowering criminal, usually portrayed as a heavy set thug with a deep bass baritone voice. Not this time, Aaron Sidwell’s Bill is a shrill wiry breath of evil, sinewy and chilling with, dare I suggest it, just a touch of a certain Mr Beckham about him. Bullseye his dog is created merely in sound.

CFT regular Philip Franks is reassuringly, as always, a tender and comforting Mr Brownlow, and pops up throughout in ensemble scenes, notably as Mr Snodgrass in the The Three Cripples and Katy Secombe is a delightfully shrill and conniving Widow Corney.

Photo: Johan Persson

Finally we come to Fagin, a role so set in the public view that one has to wonder how anyone can move it on and make it their own. Add to that the fact that Fagin is written as Jewish, and Bart’s score is steeped in Jewish musical forms, there’s more than a touch of klezmer in there. Can you take away that, remove any sense of antisemitism from the piece, or should you leave it there, not sweep it away but accept that it was for Dickens a part of life and for Bart a reflection of that time. Bourne and MacIntosh have left it as written, and avaricious crook with a heart of gold. The only real change here is that Fagin breaks the fourth wall and actively engages with the audience. It’s a masterpiece of comic timing and characterisation and Simon Lipkin is simply brilliant. His hands are so extraordinary that they deserve a separate billing! His relationship with the gang is so well handled, never a hint of anything untoward, his concerns for Nancy credible and creditable and his fear of Sykes tangible. Those scenes hold the most dark and dramatic content of the whole and plunge the piece into the dark final scenes. This is a simply superb piece of performance from an actor who has made the role his own, a younger, more comedic Fagin, put simply it works.

Photo: Johan Persson

Matthew Bourne has worked his magic once again, stunning choreography, clarity of direction, proper storytelling. And with MacIntosh’s hand on the tiller this new production is a sure fire hit.

This brilliant musical, which without doubt revitalised British Musical Theatre back in 1960, 64 years on is as fresh and as vibrant as if written only yesterday. Once more Chichester Festival Theatre have triumphed, a gem of a show with a brilliant cast, the best evening of theatre you can get this summer.

Andrew Kay

24 July

Chichester Festival Theatre

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