Brighton Theatre Group: OLIVER! Theatre Royal, 14 to 17 February Review by Janet Lawrence

Little did Lionel Bart know what he’d started, when he wrote this fantastic score, for its first London performances in 1960!

Another nice thing: we’ve seen the film, and several stage plays, but Brighton Theatre Group’s production put its own stamp on this Charles Dickens story, about a young orphan boy called Oliver, whose mother dies giving birth. He grows up in the workhouse, half starved and with Mr Bumble, the Beadle (James Witt), tolerating no nonsense, Christian Ridley, as young Oliver, is highly trained and talented. For someone so young - and this includes his counterpart William Barber, on alternate days - their acting abilities and singing voices are incomparable.

The show opens with a rumble from the orchestra. Tables and benches fill the stage. Bowls are plonked on the tables. Young boys and girls dance in and take their places.

“All we ever get is gruel,” they sing. “Food, glorious food…” they fantasise. Then a young boy approaches Mr Bumble: “Please Sir, I want some more!” It’s Oliver. All hell breaks loose and Mr Bumble puts Oliver out for sale; “Only seven guineas,” he sings. Oliver is sold to Mr Sowerberry’s dreadful undertaker’s, as a coffin-follower. After a taunt by Sowerberry’s assistant, about his mother, he runs away. In London he meets the Artful Dodger - and his life takes a new turn. “Consider yourself at home,” sings the young black-hatted youth, while Oliver accepts his offer of a place to sleep and occasional food. Little did he realise he was joining a gang of pickpockets in a seedy hideout, run by the conniving criminal, Fagin, who takes in homeless boys and teaches them to pick pockets for his own profit.

There’s a lovely flirtatious scene between Mr Bumble (James Witt) and Widow Corney (Hannah Garred). “I shall scream,” she sings, coyly.

Young Oliver gave us all the childlike mannerisms, but in an understated way. An experienced actor with a fabulous voice, at his young age. He lived in the part of this lost young boy who nonetheless has a streak of defiance, enough to escape from the undertaker’s where he’s sold to be a coffin follower. Out and about he encounters a remarkable character - The Artful Dodger. (“Consider yourself at home”). He’s taken along to Fagin’s lair where, like the other young pickpockets in his underground establishment, he sleeps on the floor and is taught to steal wallets from unsuspecting gentlemen.

What I loved about Jake Beniston, who played Fagin, was that he put his own stamp on the character. The man who makes a living by thieving and pick-pocketing, training his young orphans in the art of same, in exchange for a home and a floor space to sleep on with only a blanket to cover them.

He takes on mannerisms and attitudes with that legendary song about his poor, miserable situation. Underneath his dominating exterior, there is a lonely, insecure man who worries about approaching old age and his future. In “I think I’d better think it out again” all his emotions go into the song, with eloquent solo clarinet motifs woven between the phrases, giving it a heartrending poignancy that reduced - well, me at least - to a soft heap of sympathy.

Choral interludes and dance routines punctuate the show, with stunning costumes, dance routines, acrobatics and all the actions of a trained, enthusiastic and closely drilled dance company, thanks to the very attractive and capable Jody Michele. She’s choreographed every show of the last 15 years, after an active career as dancer, actress, in musicals and cabaret, to name a few. “I don’t don’t how it happens,” she says modestly, “but I do drill them”.

Scene and prop changes happen imperceptibly, and there’s a wonderful staircase going up to a wooden balcony arrangement at the back, where much of the action happens.

If I mention one performer’s powerful voice, I have to mention them all. I’m not privy to Director Michael Burnie’s casting techniques, but he manages to choose, not only actors with powerful voices, but the right person for the part.

We see the bully Bill Sikes (Nathan Charman) and his sturdy bull terrier, Bullseye. Alan (his real name) was an imposing presence for his short moments on stage. The gorgeous Nancy (Lucia Romero Clark), Sikes’s devoted girl friend, in her red off-the-shoulder dress, plays an important part in the story. She and Oliver have a special connection. At her own peril, and finally killed by the man she loved, she rescues Oliver and takes him back to his grandfather Mr Brownlow (Ian Gledhill) who, seeing his resemblance to the locket picture in a necklace he was given, realises Oliver is his dead daughter’s child.

I happened to chat with makeup artist Chris Horlock at the bus stop: “I even made up the dog,” he said, “with difficulty!”

Keith Shepherd, Producer, kingpin of the whole enterprise, is a father figure to them all. He’s there with support and encouragement, while Director Michael Burnie, whose experience portfolio fills pages, brings them all together with expertise, insight and faith.

Accolades go to the army of people behind the scenes, long-listed in the expertly compiled programme - chaperones, scene changers, electricians, props, makeup artists. Cally Shepherd, Keith’s wife, is one of the chaperones, also playing an active part in all administration aspects, from the ticket desk to many other aspects of putting on this show.

If some names are not mentioned, it shouldn't be taken amiss. They were all wonderful - I loved every single performer and every single minute of the performance. Congratulations and love to them all.