Great Expectations

By Charles Dickens

Adapted by Tom Crowley

December 2017 | The Old Red Lion Theatre, London

Heritage Arts and Crowley & Co. are proud to present Great Expectations, a funny, fast-paced and moving adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens, catapulting Pip into the 21st century.

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The script, adapted by Tom Crowley (Shock TreatmentThe Quentin Dentin Show) fully reimagines the classic story for the modern day, while capturing Dickens’s humour, his humanity and his sense of adventure. Great Expectations remains a story about the ageless themes of unrequited love, the divide between the rich and the poor, and what it means to be a ‘good person’. Pip is a council estate boy with no money, and no hope for the future. His mother, widow Jo Gargery, is a police officer struggling to provide for herself and her son. Before long, Pip’s life is changed forever after he meets mysterious fugitive Magwycz, the beautiful but troubled Estella and the fearsome, wounded Miss Havisham. Pip’s whirlwind adventure takes him to the heights of big city success – and into more danger than he could have ever imagined. Critically-acclaimed companies Crowley & Co. (RadiomanGreywing House) and The Heritage Arts Company (VAULT FestivalThe Cement Garden) join forces to bring this thrilling, romantic romp to The Old Red Lion Theatre for Christmas 2017.

Dates & Times

Tuesday 12th December 2017 – Saturday 6th January 2018

Tuesday – Saturday at 7:30pm

Matinees: Saturday 16th, 23rd, 30th Dec and 6th Jan; Sunday 17th and 31st Dec; Thurs 21st, Fri 22nd, Thurs 28th Dec at 3pm

Previews: Tuesday 12th December at 7:30pm.

Cast

Joshua Asaré - Pip

Fresh out of training with The National Youth Theatre on their Playing Up course, newcomer Joshua Asaré will star as Pip. His recent stage credits include The Comedy Troll at the Northwall Arts Centre and THREE at the Arcola Theatre.

Maryam Grace - Estella/Biddy

Maryam graduated from The Oxford School of Drama in 2015. Recent stage credits include Juliet in Shit-Faced Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet and Shez in one woman show Strawberry Starburst at IYAF festival, for which she won the Best Individual Performance award.  Her screen credits include The Mummy (2017).

Christopher Goh - Herbert/Compeyson

Christopher trained at the Actors Temple in 2011. Theatre credits include The Arrest of Ai Wei Wei (Hampstead Theatre), Spill (Southwark Playhouse), The 38th Parallel (Park Theatre/Arcola Theatre). Television credits include Spooks, Doctors, Holby City (BBC), Coronation Street (ITV), Strikeback (Cinemax), The Five, You, Me and the Apocalypse (Sky) and The Royals (E! Channel). Film credits include Hunter Killer (Millennium), RPG (MGN Filmes) and The Power of the Heart (NL BV films).

Sarah Thom - Jo/Miss Havisham

Sarah works frequently on Radio 4, including playing the regular character, Joan, in the long-running comedy Clare in the Community. Sarah’s extensive theatre work includes: Bette & Joan: The Final Curtain (St James Theatre, Assembly & UK Tour), A Taste of Honey & The Adventures of the Stoneheads (National Theatre), and the role of Dido in Dido Queen of Carthage (Kensington Palace & The House of St. Barnabas-in-Soho). TV includes: Taboo, Not Going Out, Doctors and Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle (all for the BBC) and Home Fires (ITV).

Liam Bewley - Jaggers/Magwycz

Liam trained at Drama Centre London. Theatre credits include Birthday Suit (Old Red Lion – Nominated for an Offie Award for Best Actor), Madame Manet (Tabard Theatre), Ace of Clubs (The Union Theatre) & They Who Lay In The Field Like Beasts (Theatre Royal Haymarket). Television includes Silent Witness, Campus, Footballers’ Wives, Extra Time and Celebdaq. Film includes The Double, The Waiting Room, The Diary of Tommy Crisp, Stand Up For Charlie Barr, Everywhere Is Nowhere, Luck, Channel Six, The Anchor and Macbeth.

Peter Wicks - Drummle/Orlick

Peter was awarded the NSDF/RSC/Spotlight Emerging Artists Best Actor commendation for his role in A Hero of Our Time (Edinburgh Festival/Rose Theatre Kingston). Theatre credits include The Alchemist (Rose Playhouse), The Elder Brother (Globe Theatre) and, with Crowley & Co., The Awkward Ghost (VAULT Festival). Peter has also performed at the King’s Head Theatre, the Drayton Arms, the Rose Theatre Kingston, Theatre503, the White Bear and the New Wimbledon Theatre.

Creative Team

Tom Crowley – Writer/Director

Tom is best known as a series writer and performer in the Prix Europa-nominated podcast sitcom Wooden Overcoats and as the playwright behind the stage adaptation of the Rocky Horror sequel, Shock Treatment (King’s Head, 2015). Most recently, he co-wrote the book of cult hit musical The Quentin Dentin Show for its run at the Tristan Bates Theatre. His other writing credits include a number of stage comedies for children at Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells as well as Cartoon Network’s BAFTA-winning The Amazing World of Gumball and Radio 4’s Four Sad Faces, The Now Show and The News Quiz.

Clancy Flynn – Designer & Lighting Designer

Clancy is the lighting designer for the hugely popular ongoing touring production of Trainspotting Live and the technical designer for ImmerCity theatre company. They previously worked with Crowley & Co. as technical manager and lighting designer for their VAULT 2016 residency, The Locker. Clancy has also been a relighter or associate for designers including Lee Curran, Malcolm Rippeth and Nic Farman. Design credits include: Paper Hearts (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), Piece of Silk (Hope Theatre), Portia (Theatre 503), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Pleasance), Crocodile (Network Theatre), Chemsex Monologues (King’s Head Theatre), and Little Red Riding Hood (Gaiety Theatre and Swansea Grand).

Odinn Orn Hilmarsson – Composer & Sound Designer

Odinn is an Icelandic composer and filmmaker based in London. Since graduating with an MA in Digital Film and Television Production from the University of York, he has been working in theatre, film and podcasts making music, sound design and various forms of video content. Recently Odinn has worked on several plays at VAULT Festival 2017 including Crocodile, Siren and Casual Violence’s Grot in the Grotto. In 2016 he was the composer for the comedy podcast Hector Vs The Future and worked on Crowley & Co.’s production of Felix Trench’s Radioman at the Old Red Lion Theatre.

“Funny, gripping… full of clever detail, this is thoughtful, witty theatre.”
★★★★
The Stage

“Snappy, sophisticated and intelligent… The piece has pace as well as heart. It is engrossing throughout and brings a historic piece of literature successfully to the 21st century. Not to be missed.”
★★★★
A Younger Theatre

“A vibrant updating of Dickens’ story… Witty script, tight direction and a strong, able cast.”
★★★★
Everything Theatre

“Prepare to laugh and cry… astutely drawn… extra-ordinary characterisations”
★★★★
London Pub Theatres

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