Poverty's trenches
ANW presents a stark and prescient ‘Oliver Twist’
By Jana J. Monji 11/26/2008
Neil Bartlett’s version of Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” at Glendale’s A Noise Within theater is a musical, but should not be confused with the bright and sunny 1960 musical adaptation “Oliver!”
Under the direction of Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, this production is barebones. Kurt Boetcher’s set design reveals the scaffolding, wigs waiting to be used and costumes hung on coat racks. Soojin Lee’s costume design uses a somber palette of blacks, grays and white with but a few splashes of color.
The 14-member ensemble sits in a row of chairs with their hair tucked under black wig nets. Each actor — except the title character — assumes several roles and the transformations often happen onstage. The magic is in the words and characterizations, not a world recreated.
Rodriguez-Elliott sets a swift pace, galloping through this dense material but giving each moment its due. The production sparkles with clarity, wit and poignancy.
Brian Dare is a lean, boyish-looking Oliver, though well-distanced from him in age — Dare is by no means a 10-year-old. As the Artful Dodger, Shaun Anthony is similarly boyish (twentysomething) and serves as the narrator.
Oliver’s mother dies at birth, and he lives in an orphanage until sold at age 10 to be an apprentice for undertakers Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry (Robertson Dean and Geoff Elliott, respectively). Fleeing from his hardships there, he falls in with Fagin (Tom Fitzpatrick) and his gang of young pickpockets, including the Dodger. This also brings him into contact with Nancy (Jill Hill) and the violent Bill Sykes (Elliott). Elliot also plays a hilarious Mrs. Sowerberry in drag, yet turns in a suitably menacing Sykes. As Fagin, Fitzpatrick is mesmerizing — oily, confident and crafty until his fall. By using a Greek chorus and quick, pointed transitions, Bartlett’s adaptation gives the words music and rhythm without trivializing the social commentary of the material.
While not totally faithful to Dickens’ novel, his scripting maintains the meaning and, of course, the relatively happy ending — as happy as one can have with a gruesome murder and the deaths of three characters.
There are brief musical interludes, mostly sung a cappella, and Endre Balogh plays the violin now and then.
Rodriguez-Elliott helms a wonderfully nuanced production of Bartlett’s adaptation, one that looks back at dark economic times — more harrowing than the current news from Wall Street — yet leaves the audience with a glimmer of hope.
Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” continues through Dec. 14 at A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, in repertory with “Hamlet” and “The Rainmaker.” Call (818) 240-0910, ext. 1, or visit anoisewithin.org.
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