Going to see Oliver at Chichester Festival Theatre was the polar opposite audience experience of going to one of singer Taylor Swift’s recent UK gigs.
Instead of trains full of excitable young ticketholders enthusing about songs, set pieces and the ‘22’ hat to their parents and guardians, Chichester Festival Theatre’s adjacent car park was chock-a-block with older theatre goers humming the tunes and buzzing about previous versions they’d seen, to the children and grandchildren they’d corralled for a night out.
And what a stupendous family show this production of Oliver is. Theatre royalty has joined forces to bring this new version of Lionel Bart’s 1960s musical back to life , with Sir Cameron Mackintosh joining forces with choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne and designer Lez Brotherston OBE, with previous hits including Swan Lake, The Red Shoes and Edward Scissorhands under their belts.
Oliver, running until September 7 at CFT and transferring to London’s West End in December, is faithful and familiar, jam-packed with visual treats including a moving River Thames, a fleeting Bulls-eye, Bill Sikes’ dog, and ingenious costumes that pay homage to the screen version of Charles Dickens’ original tale.
From curtain-up, Oliver starts at a cracking pace with ‘Food, Glorious Food’, raising the roof with superb solo and ensemble song and dance performances.
That thrilling opening number raises the question, ‘can the rest of the production be as high energy and fantastic entertainment?’ and the answer’s a resounding - yes. There’s much that’s recognisable in this production, but there are clever touches that bring it up to date, and deal with some of Dickens’ problematic characterisation too.
The script brings real resonance to social historian Dickens’ tale of a young founding, sold by his orphanage to an undertaker and coffin maker, who escapes to find himself in the company of London’s gangs and ultimately . . . well, you’ll have to wait and see.
Cian Eagle-Service as Oliver has extraordinary stage presence and an even-more extraordinary voice, Oscar Colon-Morrey is a wonderfully comedic Mr Bumble and Billy Jenkins’ (Artful Dodger) and Philip Franks’ (Mr Brownlow) considerable stage experience ensure they bring fantastic diction and clarity to the script and songs.
Taking the final bow at productions, however, is the brilliant Simon Lipkin (pictured above), as Fagin, pickpocket, thief, taker-in-of-boys, magician, dancer and much more. Chichester has a true hit on its hands with Oliver.
Oh, and the car park on the way out was still full of adults singing the show tunes . . . but this time their children and grandchildren were joining in too.
Oliver is the first production that Living with Disability has reviewed at Chichester Festival Theatre – so here are some helpful tips for making the most out of a visit.
For those travelling by car, there’s a car park right next door. If you have a Blue Badge, you can park for free in any space. There are also nine non-reservable spaces right outside the theatre.
Assistance dogs are welcome (with advance notice) to the theatre and into the show. If you’re on your own and unsure about a theatre visit, CFT also has a ‘buddy’ system, linking you with a free companion to make sure your visit’s comfortable.
There are theatre staff and volunteers everywhere, who are genuinely happy to help with your questions and to signpost you round the easy-to-navigate building.
There are different seat widths available, 18 wheelchair spaces and special performances for neurodiverse, visually or hearing impaired theatregoers or those who’d like to come to a relaxed performance.
For Oliver, these include a Relaxed performance on August 22 (2.30pm), BSL interpreted & Audio Described Performance on Sep 5 (7.30pm, preceded by Touch Tour at 6pm) and an Audio Described Performance on Sep 7 (2.30pm, preceded by Touch Tour at 1.00pm).
A full list of accessible performances can be found at https://www.cft.org.uk/whats-on/access
Photo credit: Johan Persson
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