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Ferndown Phoenix Musical Society Barrington Theatre Ferndown September 2002 In the book the plot moves seamlessly along, requiring nothing more than imagination to conjure up each location. Unfortunately, in that respect this recently written musical adaptation fell at the first hurdle and seemed to be little more than a series of very short bursts of action punctuated by no less than 22 unnecessarily long and frequently noisy scene changes. Sadly, too, although the story stands up well, the music is rather pedestrian and lacks the charm of, say, Oliver or Scrooge. However, the company worked hard to make the production a success. In particular, there were lovely characterisations from Lee Redwood and Louise Bellamy as the younger Pip and Estella, also from David Tatnall and Jo Pentling (both latecomers to the roles) as their adult counterparts. There was strong support too from Simon Dade (Magwitch), Mike Hutchings (Joe Gargery), Simon Pontin (adult Herbert), Roy Birch (Jaggers) and a scene-stealing Philip Redgrave (Wemmick), while chorus work was lively. But sorry, bad choice of show, I think. Linda Kirkman Courtesy of the Bournemouth Daily Echo |
