'Great Expectations' at East Riding Theatre exceeds all expectations.

I have never seen 'Great Expectations' performed as a play and therefore any expectations I had were overwhelmed by the way in which the story of the young and older Pip unfolded. The first person narrative of the book has been abandoned, allowing the story to be told by the company of actors who become the characters.

The stage is only small at East Riding Theatre but it was transformed from blacksmith's cottage to marshland, from large fusty house to a smart London tailor's shop and from spooky graveyard to London wharf using lots of smoke, cleverly-built scenery, magical lighting and video and one's imagination; It really is a spell-binding production, which moves along at a cracking pace. 

The cast is led by 'Whose Line is it Anyway's' Stephen Frost as the criminal/benefactor Magwitch, but all the other actors are just as convincing in the characterisation of the parts they play. To date, 'my' Miss Havisham has been Gillian Anderson, but she has most definitely been replaced by Janet Prince. Ms Prince plays the psychologically-damaged mother-figure to perfection who, in turn, damages her adopted daughter Estella. You could almost feel the chill as Hull-born Laura Peterson, playing icy Estella, took to the stage. In fact, local actors and locally-trained actors dominate the cast, showing what a huge pool of talent there is in the East Riding! 

It really does not matter whether you have read Charles Dicken's thirteenth novel, because this fine adaptation by Vincent Regan illustrates the themes of love and loss, wealth and poverty, guilt and forgiveness and the triumph of good over evil through the comprehensive language and action. The structure of the play is aided by the fact that the book's chapters are short and focused on a single topic which makes production flow. But full credit must go to director Andrew Pearson who's interpretation of Great Expectations has transformed a Victorian novel into something with such modern relevance.

Linda Johnson