Miss Havisham, played by Mary Bayley, looks into her mirror image and sees Estella, played by Jules Mann. Photo courtesy of Joe Floren.
Opening Night performance of Great Expectations — a workshop staging with local actors produced in partnership with Seattle’s Book-It Repertory Theater — was an active, ambitious, inspired and entertaining experiment in theater.
The Orcas Center production stars the incredibly talented, energetic and expressive Jamie Mulligan-Smith as Pip, who ages from a 7-year old boy terrorized by his sister Mrs, Joe (played emphatically by Donna McCoy) and an escaped convict (played with great physicality by Freddy Hinkle). In time, Pip becomes a 34-year old man whose journey through great expectations, infatuation and comeuppance have, finally, left him a better man.
Director Jane Jones promised an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic that demanded great flexibility and athleticism, and she has fully utilized the resources of great Orcas actors such as Sukima Hampton, Ron Hermann, and newcomers Halley McCormick and Jules Mann; all except for Mann play dual roles of both genders. Hermann is a hoot as the sourpuss Mrs. Wopsle and as the creepily ill-tempered Orlick. Hampton’s pomposity as Pumblechook is as much a running joke through the play as Bryan Grantham’s Joe the Blacksmith’s gentle, sturdy goodwill is a recurring testament to the common man’s integrity.
McCormick’s characterizations of Herbert Pocket, Pip’s easy-going roommate and of Biddy, Pip’s first teacher and best friend, may be a result of fortunate type-casting, but whether or not, her performances are humorous, touching and endearing with an accomplisment that veteran actors would envy.
On the other end of the spectrum, young Jules Mann’s casually bitter performance as the cold-hearted Estella make one feel sorry for the poor young girl whom Miss Havisham has made into an unloving caricature of herself.
Mary Bayley as Havisham is imperious, cold and chilling. David Schermerhorn as the careful and dry-witted lawyer is robust, hilarious and completely believable in the larger-than-life fashion of Dickens’ characters.
The play’s production begins with a quick-moving first act where the actors play off each other in an imaginative “set,” often using the actors as props or furniture. Jim Shaeffer-Bauck and Bob Littlewood (who also doubles as the lawyer’s clerk Wemmick) provide rich musical and sound accompaniment without ever being obtrusive.
Soon after the second act begins, the actors line up on the stage with reading stands in front of them, and perform while reading from the scripts. Because the action is so insightful and creative while minimal in the first act, this second-act reading is, frankly, just not as entertaining. But still, the actors maintain full characterization throughout the lengthy, complex plot, thanks in great part to the work of Stage Producer Lynda Sanders, Dialect Coach Anji Ringzin, Dramaturge Antoinette Botsford, Stage Manager Kate Hansen, Prop Mistress Diane Skaar, Set and Lighting Designer Elena Hartwell,Lighting Director Phil Burbo, Costume Designers Kathy Walsh and Deborah Sparks, and Wardrobe Curator Paige McCormick.
This ensemble of cast and crew have mounted a lively, engaging, sweet-tempered drama that celebrates “the getting of wisdom” and our rich, subtle and fabulous language as only Dickens can.
The play will be performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings through Oct. 24, with the exception of a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. on Oct. 24.
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