Oliver! A new twist on a classic

Oliver! The anticipation is palpable. Families – three generations strong – are in the foyer and bar; the queue is abuzz with excitement. Something special is afoot.

On cue, the audience rushes in to find a Gothic dream of a set, lit like a demonic inferno, with pathways and staircases and ladders framing a multi-purpose space. A row of cloths hangs high across the proscenium; sacks, barrels and crates fill in corners. Gradually, eyes adjusting to the lights, a cast of ragamuffins become visible. The house lights fade, the orchestra pit shows its muscle – what sweet music they made! – and we are plunged into a mechanised workcamp aesthetic with dance routines of angular jerking, young bodies wracked with energy. Workhouse children are forced to wolf their gruel at speeds guaranteed to cause indigestion while platters of fancy fine food wafts past on its way to feed the wealthy patrons of the workhouse: ‘Food, Glorious Food’, indeed! The story remains Dickens’s novel neatly filleted for maximum impact, and the score and lyrics remain Lionel Bart’s – director Clare Hayes and team crossed this with steampunk, a healthy dose of Victorian Gothic, and blistering modern dance routines. Total commitment and focus came from 52 pupils onstage, supported by a highly efficient pupil crew of 39. What an evening! The screams of delight throughout and the standing ovation at the end were testimony to the hard work of a massive ensemble company and crew. 

Dickens’s aesthetic sensibilities translated beautifully through all the grotesque eccentrics portrayed on stage. Chief among these was George Erith’s electric eel of a performance as Fagin, providing amazing physical work to match his unsettling insidious vocal characterisation. Quivering and giddily jiggling with delight, his hands playing the air around the young in his care, he corrupted the innocent in all manner of ways: “Shut up and drink your gin!” His comedy sequence with his ‘girlfriends’, ‘Pearl’ and ‘Ruby’ (his stolen jewellery), was repellent and mesmerising. Here was a Fagin with a love of lipstick and a dark fascination with his own facial tics, a man who suggested all the sub-textual griminess and reptilian horror of Dickens’s original. Felix Badcock made for an intimidating Bill Sikes, making a striking entrance with a string of pearls stored down his throat, driven by rage, and acting on horrid impulse to kill. Felix’s presence had the little ones in the company scuttling in terror – no wonder! His murder of Nancy by strangling downstage centre in the audience’s faces was brutal and savage, and his haunted cry of “Your eyes!” on the rooftop was that of a soul in torment. As Fagin’s sidekick, the Artful Dodger, Fourth Former Hugo Laing earned his keep and more as a new Drama Scholar, cheekily inhabiting an overly familiar relationship with both Fagin and Nancy that would have social services reaching for the logbook. He led the scamps of Fagin’s gang beautifully. The sequence in ‘I’d Do Anything’ where the Dodger and Nancy bobbed up and down in an impromptu carriage with a team of scamps for horses and umbrellas for wheels was superbly executed. The supporting company held any number of treats in longer or shorter cameos: Flora White as Widow Corney and Fredrik Hopkins as the parish beadle, Mr Bumble, kicked off proceedings as heartless, conniving jobsworths, who may have flirted but it was clear neither could stand the other. Once Oliver was sold into the undertaker’s business, it was time for Annie Smith and Will Owens as the Sowerberrys to channel their inner Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, fresh out of Sweeney Todd. Annie’s mouth and tongue did something horrible that distorted her features – it looked like a swan was trying to escape from her mouth at times, while Will’s unhinged undertaker looked as if he were secretly a body snatcher or a mad scientist waiting for some unusually unpleasant creature to awaken on his lab table. Their gruesome fascination with the rituals of death provided the setting for the morbidly funny sequence in which Oliver confronted his own corpse under a bloody cloth. There was a genuine thrilled gasp from the crowd as Alex Hardy whipped off the sheet to find John Hardy underneath and the horrid laughter the twins elicited showed this bold directorial choice worked well. Adding to this rogue’s gallery of horrors was Blair Morton as Dr Grimwig, a model of medical malpractice and comic timing, who could hardly wait to ignore the responses of his patient. “Say Ahhh!”

Facing this intimidating body of London’s worst were the forces of sweetness and light. As Oliver, Alex Hardy was the emotional anchor of the show. His willingness to run the gamut of the physical requirements of this production – endlessly running into, out of, through, around, over and under moving pieces of scenery and furniture – was impressive, and he brought an expressive stillness in contrast at moments that grounded his beautiful singing. His delivery of ‘Where is Love?’ was a lovely blend of sentiment and yearning pain. The crowd’s roar at the curtain call was well deserved. Aiding him were – on alternating nights – Amaya Butler and Francesca Banks as Nancy. Frankie cut a winsome figure whose vocal performance was stellar. Amaya had a voice and stage manner that wowed the crowd and a sassy shake to her physical performance that suggested the life of the London street girl. The depth of richness she brought to her songs was incredible and she rightly received shouts and warm applause for every number. Her emotional rendition of ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ was thrilling. The way both Francesca and Amaya led the company at the start of the second half in ‘Oom-pah-pah’ was a masterclass in musical theatre. What a storm the ensemble raised! Everywhere the eye moved there was life and energy, reflecting the joy the team had in their collective task. Juliette Ball as Bet was a fine foil to Nancy, the Dodger and Oliver throughout these songs. Family is at the heart of the show, and Max Richardson as Mr Brownlow and Flossie Atwood as Mrs Bedwin provided Oliver with a safe haven. Their calm and empathetic demeanour threw light on the horrors acted out by the dodgy criminals and ne’er-do-wells. 

With Nancy murdered, Sikes dead, and Oliver restored to his true birth-right in his grandfather’s house, the wily Fagin was left to reprise ‘Reviewing the Situation’, and the crowd showed its appreciation for the survival of this comic monster. Dickens hangs Fagin in the novel; Bart lets him steal off into the darkness. Somewhere out there, this horrible child-catcher is still charming his way through life, the feathers on his hat enticing some poor innocent to their doom. The curtain call was riotous – with the audience clapping and stamping and cheering, the ensemble was only just audible – that’s an achievement!

Huge hats off – huge Victorian top-hats off – to the staff leading the pupils: Clare Hayes (Artistic Director), Andrew Kennedy (Musical Director), Sarah Bell (Choreographer), Lucy Smith (Theatre Manager), Will Hunter (Set and Tech), Alexandra Gaunt (Back Stage Crew and Costume) and Jeremy Goldthorp (Lighting) and Stuart Dixon (Sound). They were paired with pupils who led their teams to great effect: Clementine Manning (DSM, calling the show), William Price and Amelia Hoskins (Stage Management) James Holroyd and James Lilley (Lighting), Freya Woolgrove and Max Best (Sound), Camilla Perry (Costume), Blair Morton (Marketing)  and Maymie Alford and Sienna Martin (Hair & Make-up.) This was a massive undertaking, with a very different feel to this classic musical. Everyone was giving their all: Uppingham’s strength in depth of team is incredible. The spectacular impact of the show was clear from the audience whose blissed-out grins in the foyer afterwards were fitting tribute to months of hard work: bravo!