Charles Dickens’s 19th-century orphan, Oliver, is given a modern twist in this high-energy musical hybrid. Based on Michael Rosen’s book of the same name and adapted by Roy Williams, it draws out the modern-day parallels in that classic, which really come to resonate.
Dickens’s characters come alive as a class of unruly schoolchildren read his novel. They intermingle with the present-day drama of Shona (Drew Hylton), whose single father (Thomas Vernal) is having trouble making ends meet. Shona is offered a free mobile phone at school but realises she is expected to use it to “fetch and carry” for a street gang. Directed by James Dacre, this is an original production that shows, so keenly, how the trap of child poverty can lead to the trap of child crime.
Yaya Bey and Conrad Murray’s rap, hip-hop and R&B score is exuberant, while the beatboxing is a highlight. The songs are catchy, their lyrics laced with humour, with performances from a committed young cast who grow more assured as they go along.
Hylton’s central performance builds in force and her voice is remarkable, with its wide range and power in songs such as I’ve Got a Phone. She is clearly a star in the making. Her phone, meanwhile, is key to both classroom culture and gang crime. The song You Ain’t Got a Phone comically shows the disbelief her peers feel when Shona reveals her lack of one.
Frankie Bradshaw’s bare but atmospheric set incorporates the murky streets of Victorian London with a locker-lined classroom. Story and characterisation are a little clunky at times: Shona’s relationship with her teacher, Miss Cavani (Rosie Hilal), appears too much a function of the plot, as does Miss Cavani’s similarities to Dickens’s character Nancy, while parallels between Shona’s grandmother (Polly Lister) and Fagin also seem strained. But the father-daughter dynamic bristles with complicated tension and resentment, then softens to become gently moving; they sing a lovely, touching duet, I Remember the Beach. It ultimately gives this production its heart and soul.
