Great Expectations

It was a great pleasure to watch this open air performance of Great Expectations in the Abbey Ruins, the rugged remains of which lent themselves to the bleak background of the story. I was so impressed with the cast and crew, who after cancelation of their first performance due to a heatwave, battled through inclement weather to deliver a great show.

The director had adapted the story to make it into a manageable script for the stage and suited to an open-air production. It is quite a task to condense a Dickens story whilst being true to the story and characters, which he achieved bringing a cohesive and enjoyable production. He had clearly worked with the cast to understand their characters and so many lovely character traits were developed. The cast worked extremely well together with many stand out performances. They all coped very well with performing in the open air, projecting their voices and speaking with clarity such that we heard every word, even during torrential rain.

The wardrobe team had given a lot of attention to detail with period costumes and a clear delineation between the poor and the rich. Mrs Havisham’s wedding dress was particularly splendid. The set was simple, but the clever use of props enabled the cast to move through scenes in different locations with ease. Outdoor performances bring their own challenges, not least the gradual loss of light and managing different weather conditions. This team obviously prepared well for the production and the cast were well lit and always heard despite the heavy rain.

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