06/07 season
adapted and directed by neil bartlett
music by gerard mcburney
in association with the american repertory theatre
and theatre for a new audience
the roda theatre
may 11–june 24, 2007
WEST COAST PREMIERE
running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes,
including one 15 minute intermission
the show
multimedia
KCBS interview with Michael Wartella (1.6MB mp3)
Inspired by the vivid world of the Victorian music-hall, Neil Bartlett’s staging of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist uses the original language of Dickens’ novel to dramatize one of the most deeply felt stories ever written about childhood. A cast of unforgettable characters brings the underworld of 19th-century London to thrilling life—a city teeming with danger and fear—all seen through the eyes of an astonished child. By turns comic and tragic, musical and dramatic, Bartlett’s Twist was a runaway success in London. His works have been seen and celebrated around the world. We’re thrilled to present his Berkeley Rep debut with this sensational production.
the artists
A master of prose, a comic genius and a scathing social critic, Charles
Dickens is among the greatest novelists of all time. The natural
theatricality of his work has inspired famous stage adaptations of books
such as Great Expectations and Nicholas Nickleby.
An acclaimed playwright, director, performer and novelist, Neil
Bartlett is one of Britain’s most innovative theatre artists.
From 1994 to 2004, he was artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith, among
London’s most adventurous and beloved theatres.
the buzz
“Engagingly grungy and entertaining…Excellent peformances…A wonderfully theatrical box set, starkly lit and full of hidden trapdoors, cranks, levers and other fetchingly low-tech devices…A buoyantly sly score infuses the action with bumptious, sentimental and ominous tunes played by a ragged trio. A striking, even captivating production”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Wildly innovative and thoroughly engaging…a faithful retelling of the Oliver Twist story, but the unique and colorful style make it a fresh and exciting experience…It’s a wild and rollicking production, stylized to give the feel of a Victorian English music hall potboiler.”—Contra Costa Times
“Amid all the inventive direction and diverting theatrics, we hear Dickens at his rabble-rousing, hyperbolic best. Everything in Oliver Twist is so dark, so mean and so biting, it’s funny—by design. For all the grimness, there’s abundant humor.”—Inside Bay Area
“Intoxicating! A page-turner. Every scene leaves us dangling expectantly for the next…This dirty finger-nailed firecracker of a production creates something both dramatically vivid and politically engaging out of its source material.”—SF Weekly
“An astounding coup de grace. The fabulous, ensemble cast of 13, playing multiple roles, presents an old-fashioned dramatization of the Dickens’ classic performed in no way that you’ve ever seen done before. The characters thrillingly come to life. You’ll positively be mesmerized.”—KGO Radio
“Are you one of those people who can’t bear the fake Cockney jauntiness of Oliver!? If so help is at hand—Neil Bartlett’s Oliver Twist is richly satisfying. Unlike its hero, you aren’t left asking for more.”—The London Independent
“Lionel Bart gave us Oliver! with an exclamation mark: Neil Bartlett presents Oliver with a twist.”—The London Guardian
“Dickens in all his dark, gaudy glory…I really can’t recommend this show too highly. A great novel has been transformed into truly stunning theatre.”—London’s Daily Telegraph
“A great novel is kicked into gear and sent racing. This is melodrama from the old school: big performances, playing to the crowd, and real footlights that get a workout casting sinister shadows…These marvelous actors really can do anything, and play together like a dream…Even if you know the famous story of poor, orphaned Oliver, [writer/director Neil] Bartlett gives it fresh suspense.”—New York Magazine
“Bold and deeply theatrical…Neil Bartlett works magic in adapting the Dickens classic…Bartlett’s vision is clear from the first moment, when a plain black curtain rises to reveal the darkly ingenious box of a set. By a similar magic, 11 of the company’s 13 members (all but Fagin and Oliver) don cloaks or shed hats to fill the stage with a whole throng of Dickens’s vivid eccentrics, saints, and villains…A whole and wholly fascinating experience…Leaves us with a new and more complex understanding of the Oliver Twist we thought we knew.”—Boston Globe
“Writer-director Neil Bartlett not only manages to shake Lionel Bart’s melodic songs out of one’s head in his sensational stage adaptation of Oliver Twist, he makes the audience rethink Dickens’ tale of the most famous child left behind…This riveting production will be a winner for those who like their Dickens served straight up.”—Variety
“Casts off the sentimental goo that has accrued to the story over the past 170 years…Everything about this production, from Rae Smith’s surprise-packed “penny dreadful” box of a set and class-telegraphic costuming to Gerard McBurney’s dour incidental instrumentals and plainsong choruses, truly impresses”—Theatremania
“A theatrical experience that will sear its images into the minds of theatergoers, unlike any other staged versions of the classic tale…Captures the dark, dank world of the young orphan in a way that Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver! fails to do…Bartlett’s decision to use (for the most part) solely the words of Dickens preserves the integrity of the original story and helps the show stay true to its nature and tone.”—Broadway World
add value—free events
free docent presentations
Free docent presentations offer a look inside each play and its development at Berkeley Rep. A 30-minute presentation takes place one hour before every Tuesday and Thursday 8PM performance.
These presentations are made possible by support from American Express.
post-show discussions
Post-show discussions take place on May 31 and June 12 and 15. Stick around for a lively 30-minute Q&A with the cast or other company members.
press photos
production sponsors
restaurant sponsor
season sponsors
