great expectations

Moira+I went to the Old Vic last night to see Neil Bartlett’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations”. Having read glowing reviews about the play, Moira did indeed have great expectations (I just felt dog-tired!). Fortunately (for us both), it WAS very good evening. The acting was of a consistently high standard – I was particularly taken by Tom Canton’s performance as Pip (who was on stage throughout the evening) – but, for me, the most impressive aspect of the production was the overall design, sound and lighting (Michael Vale, Timothy X Atack and Rick Fisher).

The Old Vic programme described it as “an evening of pure theatrical story-telling”… and I think this just about sums up an excellent production.
PS: the one sad aspect of the evening was the relatively sparse audience – perhaps only 60, if one discounted a party of some 20 college students.