Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist Press Reviews

Excerpts:

 "Vermont Stage’s production of “Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist,” as Neil Bartlett’s fast-paced stage adaptation is called, proved to be compelling storytelling at Thursday’s performance at FlynnSpace. This slick and lavish production, which took a 19th-century melodrama approach with original music, continues through Feb. 13."

"The Vermont Stage production, directed by Jason Jacobs, reverts to a style of storytelling reminiscent of the silent movie era, which followed the early stage melodrama style with music and exaggerated characters and situations. And, largely, in this production it worked beautifully.

Vermont Stage’s cast was excellent throughout. Ethan Bowen’s Fagin was deliciously evil but strangely sympathetic. Robbie Tann gave real dimension and charm to the Artful Dodger and doubled as Dickens narrating the action. Libby Belitsos, 11, as Oliver Twist was the perfect foil for everyone and convincingly innocent — and scared — throughout.

"Vermont Stage’s “Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist” is one of the Burlington professional company’s most compelling and entertaining productions to date." 

Let there be no doubt: Neil Bartlett’s Oliver Twist is a play with music, not a “musical.” No, Bartlett — an acclaimed British director, playwright and novelist — took precise language from author Charles Dickens for his 2004 adaptation, but the musical element is at the discretion of producers.

That worked out well for Burlington musician David Symons. He was commissioned to write original music for the Vermont Stage Company production of Oliver Twist, which begins next Wednesday. That includes “incidental,” or scene-enhancing, instrumental passages as well as songs. “There are about nine times in the play,” Symons says, “when the cast sings directly to the audience. It’s very Brechtian, very Three Penny Opera-ish — it’s not naturalistic at all.”

(Read the Full Article Here)

The familiar musical take on Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" is pretty much just a feel-good story, as you might expect from a production marked by an exclamation point ("Oliver!") and featuring merry drunks singing "oom pah pah."

The less familiar drama that opened with a sold-out show Wednesday at Vermont Stage has no exclamatory punctuation, no happy sots and bits of music that are much more ominous than they are uplifting. This modern adaptation of Dickens' "Oliver Twist" by Neil Bartlett does have a few things the musical lacks, however, most notably deep drama and a story line that's heavy on social commentary without being preachy.

The title character in the Vermont Stage production is not just a cute kid being taken advantage of by a group of petty thieves: He's the almost beatific personification of innocence. The conclusion by almost everyone in the young English lad's life is that he's just bad, bad, bad, "a naughty orphan which nobody can love" in the words of one character. This "Oliver Twist" asks subtly if there is such a thing as original sin, or if evil is ascribed from outside rather than summoned from within.

 (Read the Full Review Here)

What makes a play compelling theater — engaging the audience with a great story, or amazing them with clever stagecraft? Call me old-fashioned, but I’m more captivated by the well-told tale. Great storytelling is not at the heart of British playwright Neil Bartlett’s 2004 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Dickens (1812-70) created some of the most memorable fiction since cavemen first spun fireside yarns about the Big Woolly Mammoth That Got Away. There’s a reason the English novelist’s work has never gone out of print: He gave good story.

Victorian-inspired visual, stylistic and musical elements brim from Bartlett’s dark version, a play with live music and several sung choruses. But, by making the hero a hapless victim and betraying the ending halfway through Act I, Bartlett dissipates some of the dramatic tension.

That said, Vermont Stage Company’s current production of this Twist still entertains: It showcases mesmerizing performances by outstanding local actors — many of them making their VSC debuts — in an imaginatively rendered world.

(Read the Full Review Here)

That's what I'll be doing one night next week. Cuz I attended a bit of a rehearsal of Vermont Stage Company's production of Oliver Twist and have to say it's looking, and sounding, good. I went to hear some of David Symons' sweetly dissonant music in context - see my piece on the Burlington composer in this week's Seven Days.

David (pictured at right) got the cool gig of writing original music for Oliver Twist, an adaptation by Brit theater artist/playwright Neil Bartlett. What I heard in rehearsal made me want to hear more. As VSC artistic director Mark Nash put it, "David is surpassing my expectations."

(Read the Full Blog Here)