The extraordinary popularity for theatrical treatments of Dickens’ novels does not appear to be on the wane, as proven by the full-house in attendance at Richard Cheshire’s ambitious stage production of Great Expectations. Is it the approaching festive season that makes us hanker after a good, albeit moralistic, Dickensian yarn, I ask myself? Whatever the reason, this literal, although heavily edited, production brings a new level of energy and youthful creativity to a familiar story.

The staging is impressive, as complex scene changes take place almost imperceptibly and without jarring intrusiveness. From debtors’ gaol to a small boat floundering in murky waters, from a smart gentlemen’s club to the menacing and crowd-filled back streets, this production captures the sense of a society in flux.

This is a society in which a boy from the lowliest of beginnings can, almost overnight, be amongst the wealthiest members of the Establishment. However, what the evocative set, impressive costuming and scenic detail did to create an overwhelming sense of the potential for personal change and social mobility, was contrasted by the central character Pip (David Lynch) who to all intents and purposes remained a consistently naïve and slightly bemused ingénu from start to finish. In some ways, this lack of visible development in Pip emphasised his innocence and the ever present threat posed by the predatory and exploitative forces at work in nineteenth century England. Pip’s poignant vulnerability was particularly apparent in the closing scenes when he appears physically paralysed whilst being bombarded by a sound-scape of words and phrases uttered by the many characters he has met during his quest to fulfil those elusive “great expectations”.

The impressive set design (Hannah Gardner), with its atmospheric lighting and a sense of depth created by innovative use of strategically arranged trap-doors, suggests a mysterious and precarious world with hidden pit-falls at every turn, in which anything might happen, anyone could appear.

A young cast deliver competent performances all round, in this tightly knit, well disciplined, ensemble production, amongst which some outstanding performances shine through, most notably the coldly sinister legal eagle Jaggers (EdwinWright), the envious and scheming Orlick (Thomas Newman) and the shrewish Mrs Gargery (Victoria Lindsay). Well defined characterisation, (with many of the actors playing two distinct roles), and the overall production manage to attain a balance between dark and light, tension and humour with ease, despite what was, to my mind, a slightly lack lustre and occasionally flat second half.

Despite a few misconceived attempts to stage the novel’s descriptive sections far too literally – such as the fracas between the police and Magwitch on the river bank and the death by fire of Miss Havisham – this adaptation works well and the narrative structure is clear and comprehensible.The cast’s attempt to suggest the class divisions of the nineteenth century are admirable with, for example, detailed and accurate costuming (Sian Jones) and a generally successful use of accent and intonation (stand up, Marc Baillie as Wemmick and Robert Ash as Magwitch) although for some less confident performers the “in the round staging” resulted in some infuriating loss of projection. Similarly, posture and deportment work is in evidence – from the starchy, effete, self-destructive Miss Havisham (Julie Ross) to the swagger and threat of Compeyson (Andrew Morman), and in this way the production attempts to capture the often exaggerated essence of caricature in Dickens’ work.

However, despite all these deserved plaudits the overall experience of this production is dampened by a weak and ineffectual ending, which left one asking what was that all about? The dramatic summation lacked emotion or even the potential for curiosity – it unfortunately did a disservice to the admirable work that preceded it. I was left asking myself whether more experimentation with respect to the final scene of the play might have been in order – particularly as the programme notes point out this was even an artistic bone of contention during Dickens’ lifetime. Nonetheless, overall this was a courageous, energetic and competent production.