‘Prime Stage’s ‘Great Expectations at New Hazlett Theatre (Sun., 11/3/24)

GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Charles Dickens, adapted by Neil Bartlett. Prime Stage Theatre. November 1 – 10.

Prime Stage’s ‘Great Expectations’ features (L. to R.) Sam Lander as Pip, Jennifer Sinatra as Miss Havisham and Michaela Isenberg as Estella. (Photo: Laura Slovesko)

It’s not surprising that so many of Dickens’ great novels, serialized in mid-19th century London papers, have found new audiences and renewed popularity on stage; they tell engaging stories filled with plot twists and off-beat characters. The number of seasonal productions of A Christmas Carol must be in the hundreds. (And that’s in the United States alone!) Oliver! was a musical splash in New York and London in the 1960s. Tickets to Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby were the envy of theater-goers in the late ‘70s, requiring two separate performances to cover the engrossing tale. And his famously unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood was a West End and Broadway hit in the late ‘80s. Now, Prime Stage is producing Dickens’ Great Expectations, a sweeping saga of an orphan’s rise to wealth and social standing. The novel, which many critics have said is Dickens’ best, features well more than a dozen memorable characters, each of whom are more integral to the plot than not. Of course, there’s Pip, Estella, and Miss Havisham, and Abel Magwitch, Biddy, and Pocket. And then there’s Joe Gargery, Mrs. Joe, Mr. Pumblechook, Bentley Drummle…well, the characters go on. But, if you’ve never read Great Expectations or not seen any of the great film adaptations, worry not. Prime Stage’s production of Neil Bartlett’s clever adaptation calls for just six actors (and a minimalist stage of chairs and benches) to pull all the strings of this sweeping saga into one satisfying evening of fun and delight. 

Indeed, Great Expectations may take most of Pip’s life to unfold, but you won’t get lost or bored. Nor are you likely to forget a single character. 2:30 p.m. At the New Hazlett Center for Performing Arts, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. (C.P.O.)

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