Oliver

A 75th anniversary requires a very special production – and the King’s Lynn Players chose not only a special venue, the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange, but also opted for an extra-special staging of that wonderful perennial favourite, Lionel Bart’s Oliver!, to observe the occasion properly.

Former NODA District 4N representative Stephen P E Hayter directed this production as a rich tapestry of colour and activity with the buzz and hum of urban life, even braving the odds of stagecraft by casting about 45 children in this celebratory show.

It’s almost a cliché to talk about how Charles Dickens’s world of stratified wealth and poverty has parallels in the troubled London of today. However, there is no doubt that Dickens characters such as greedy Fagin, murderous Bill Sykes, Sykes’s doomed paramour Nancy and Fagin’s gang of child thieves have spiritual descendants in today’s real-life London drug dealers and gangs and the disenfranchised children who become embroiled in the so-called ‘county lines’ crime waves.

Hayter delivered a traditional Oliver! that will no doubt have both thrilled and satisfied audiences who know what they expect various characters to be like, the settings to look like and most of the songs to sound like.

As well-loved as Oliver! is, a director’s challenge can often be to develop some unusual aspect that helps her/his production differ creatively from others so that it stands out in the memory. Hayter’s vision led to several stand-out measures including multi-levelled playing area and, quite delightfully, the characterisations of two small but key roles, the funeral home directors Mr and Mrs Sowerberry (Liam Baker and Bryony Ding, respectively). The physicality of the Sowerberrys’ relationship reminded me of the heavy flirtatiousness exuded by Gomez and Morticia Addams in The Addams Family. Baker’s clever portrayal of the sonorously affected Mr Sowerberry was quite funny and, with his lady wife/partner-in-crime Mrs Sowerberry, created an unexpectedly enjoyable segment – enjoyable enough that I wished Oliver had hung around with the Sowerberrys a bit longer.

The other special stand-out factor was the impressive staging involving the use of varied levels in the Corn Exchange auditorium, especially metal plankways and stairs along one of its walls that allowed the orphans to make a significant marching entrance en masse. Another level was built above the primary playing area, serving as London Bridge.

One other point of difference was the lack of a Bullseye, villain Bill Sykes’s dog and closest companion. Being a dog lover, I’d looked forward to seeing this show’s Bullseye. But perhaps with 45 children in the cast, a Bullseye would have been a bridge too far.

Matt Austin successfully channelled Ron Moody (from the film Oliver!) in his performance as Fagin and interacted well with his young gang, especially effectively in the scene in which young Oliver is trained to pick pockets. Jamie Nuttall was an imposing and sinister Bill Sykes, snarling his song “My Name” with believably implied violence. As Nancy, the good-time girl and Bill Sykes’s mistreated girlfriend, Ellie Buckingham shook the rafters with her big voice. The relationship between Sykes and Nancy seemed impersonal and disconnected, however; neither Nancy’s self-destructive emotional attachment to Sykes nor her revulsion of him – never came to the fore which diminishes the tragedy of her death.

Alfie Waite had the prerequisite physical and vocal sweetness required of Oliver himself, and Max Bithray played his youthful mentor the Artful Dodger with swaggering authority.

Other characters brought to life in arresting performances were the slimy Mr Bumble (Anthony Maley), Nancy’s sidekick Bet (Maddi Dawson), kindly Mrs Bedwin (Julie Bjerregaard) and the man later revealed to be Oliver’s grandfather, Mr Brownlow (Leslie Judd).

With crisp yet lush musical direction by Samantha Ashby, Oliver! also benefitted from purposeful, show-enhancing choreography by Sharon Fox. Particularly lovely was the “Who Will Buy” segment, which featured several different strands of choreography telling the stories of daily goings-on for a variety of different groups of people.

Other short notes:

n  The primary set on the main playing level was versatile, providing a setting for Fagin’s treasure trove as well as a backdrop for a pub, and other locations.

n  Nancy’s costume, a red dress, was too bright for her circumstances and looked as though it had been made from quality materials. This tatty creature would no doubt have aimed to have splashes of colour or her clothing, perhaps in the form of a flower, but the red dress had the effect of the garb of a saloon dancer in the American Wild West.

The creative team succeeded in staging a true spectacle for its 75th anniversary, the kind of beautifully put together production that affirms and further establishes the role of the local community theatre group.

And it’s gotten me to thinking: when I direct Oliver! one day, I shall place it in the 21st century and set the action to the plight of the too-too young ‘county lines’ runners in a cold world.

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