The story Charles Dickens might have written after drinking too much gin…
If you think you know the story of Great Expectations, it might be better to leave your literary knowledge at home! Will Pip escape the clutches of the dastardly Mr Gently Benevolent and defeat the hideous Hardthrasher siblings?
I was concerned that my scant knowledge of Dickens’ novels might be inadequate to really enjoy Harborough Theatre’s latest production, Bleak Expectations. I needn’t have worried as this comedic romp bore only a passing resemblance to anything CD ever wrote.
Many theatres stage a panto in January and this hilarious show was on the brink.
Directed by Mark Bodicoat, the tight-knit cast of 12 took us through Mark Evans’ wacky script, parodying Bleak House and Great Expectations with references to many other Dickens works thrown in.
Gloriously bonkers, it included headteacher Wackwell and his cane called Michael (see what I mean?), a pupil (think Oliver) who pleaded for less food as it was so disgusting and a mad woman who thought she was a cat.
We were guided through the totally bananas plot by chocolatey-voiced Charles Hilsdon as Sir Philip Bin reflecting on his life.
As a company, this was truly a triumph for all and there were some outstanding individual performances too, including Cormac, Lizzie and Den Murphy. Cormac excelled as young Bin, who invented the eponymous litter container. Lizzie was his mother who totally lost her marbles, and Den was wonderfully horrible as the headmaster and a vile vicar.
Steve Feeney warranted hisses and boos as the evil Gently Benevolent and Harlan J Trashcan, strutting around the stage like the wicked landlord in a melodrama.
Dickens, the quintessential English author, may have baulked at this show, but strangely his work was transformed into equally English humour. I loved it.
— Edited from Gordon Birch’s review in the Harborough Mail
Sir Philip Bin – Charles Hilsdon
Thomas Bin / Bakewell Havertwitch – Ben Reid
Agnes Bin – Lizzie Murphy
Pip Bin – Cormac Murphy
Pippa Bin – Emma Beckett
Poppy Bin – Sophie Marlowe
Gently Benevolent / Harlan J. Trashcan – Steve Feeney
Skinflint Parsimonious / Broadly Fecund – Barry Watson
The Hardthrashers – Den Murphy
Harry Biscuit – Ben Brooks
Ripely Fecund – Lisa Hilton
Flora Dies-Early – Nanda Marchant
Photography by John Harrison
Directed by Mark Bodicoat
An amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books