Oliver!

According to the milestone we saw it’s 193 miles from Tadcaster and it’s a similar number of years since Oliver’s story was first published but the Society gave us a real flavour of Dickensian London in this production.  The excellent set (Prosceneium) provided appropriate settings for most of the various scenes with minimal delay between changes, costumes were  good and all this combined to encourage the cast to inhabit their characters with great confidence.

This was particularly true of Noah Doyle’s cheeky and cheerful Dodger and Alison Davies as Nancy whilst Steve Padfield made a convincing Fagin. His rendition of “Reviewing the situation” was enhanced by Katie Allen’s violin, a welcome member of the excellent orchestra.  Terry Ford made a memorable Mr. Bumble and his song “Boy for sale” showed off his excellent singing voice whilst his partnership with Clare Meadley as Widow Corney  provided some humorous moments.

Sadly, the Society had been able to attract only a couple of boys and so the majority of the youngsters in the cast were girls. This was true even of the title role, although this was sweetly played by Bailey Smith, providing a real contrast to the more boisterous Dodger. This was the last production for the Society by this Director after more than 30 previous shows but it must rank as one of her best.                                          

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