Curve,Leicester
A dynamic production full of contrast, strong performances and brisk musical direction polish the classic musical to a shinePaul Kerryson’s production cleverly plays with contrasts to evoke the moral chiaroscuro of Dickens’s 19th-century LondonThe first-half curtain is a cliffhanger tableau: innocent young Oliver Twist is in the hands of the constabulary; Mr Brownlow (Oliver’s grandfather – though neither knows this, and yet) is standing by; the guilty Artful Dodger watches,aghast, from a bridge above the London street – what will gangmaster Fagin say? Curtain up on the moment half: in the Three Cripples drinking den, and Nancy is belting out an upbeat Oom-Pah-Pah – and Cat Simmons (who plays her) fairly bounces the grim meanings of the lyrics off its trombone oomph (“She was from the country/ But now she’s up a gum-tree/ She let a feller beat er,then lead er along/ What’s the pleasurable o’ cryin’?”). In walks Bill Sikes, with his stick and his dog. Fun freezes; audience gasps (dog barks).
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Source: theguardian.com