Oliver!

From the time the book by Dickens was published in 1836, the story of Oliver’s life has been a topic of interest and was even more so once it appeared as a musical in 1960.  It has been revived so many times and, fortunately, we have this version today – thank goodness. Once again Oliver Twist – his full name – progresses from a home for the poor in The Midlands, to funeral home in London and then on to the streets with Fagin and his pick pocket gang. Of course his life does improve very slowly. Song, music and dance are added complement the acting roles. For those who have not seen it before, the musical is quite true to the original novel of so long ago.

To be successful, as this production is, there had to be good direction from the start and Madeleine Johns achieved that very successfully. The overall production flowed so well, with a very large cast ranging in age from the very young to a little more elderly, all dressed in great costumes. Casting really well, she limited herself to symbolic props, allowing freedom of movement and dance. Oh, the orchestra played well and at a level for the voices to be heard clearly.

Toby Bailey was a good Oliver, the centre of the production – a talented young man. In the manipulative role of Fagin, one of the real baddies, Thomas Armstrong-Robley carried the action really well, with very good acting and singing.  Georgia Burnett excelled as Nancy, while supporting Bill Sikes, a really nasty piece of goods as played by Matthew Leigh in a strong performance. Anthony Van Stam deserves mention as the Artful Dodger.

RMT continues to offer better and greater musicals each time and this is right at the top. Treat yourself; go and see it if you can. A very good production.

William Davies