Dickens Unplugged
Comedy Theatre Summer 2008

Adam Long, one of the trio who created The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged two decades ago, now subjects Dickens to the same irreverent scrutiny, and the result is a couple of hours of smiles, giggles, occasional out-loud laughs and even the random moment of honest pathos.

Following much the same pattern as the Shakespeare show, the cast of five race through the Life And Works. A few of the novels - Bleak House, Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop - are wittily summarised in a quick song each, while the better-known works - Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol - are the subject of extended comic sketches.

Oliver's story is turned into a jolly musical, much to the outrage of the onstage Dickens, and part of the joke is that the new songs are different enough from Lionel Bart's to avoid royalty payments but close enough to be recognisable parodies.

David Copperfield puts the emphasis on David's blank and cheerful obliviousness to the dramas around him; Two Cities makes the revolting French peasants sound oddly like revolting (in another sense) American teenagers, and Christmas Carol finds an unexpected new use for Tiny Tim's crutch.

My 14-year-old companion enjoyed herself immensely, and told me to assure you that you don't have to have read the books to enjoy the jokes, though I'll add that seeing the cleverness of the allusions and parodies adds further levels of fun.

And every once in a while they pause to quote Dickens directly, as in a description of David Copperfield's parting from his friends, or to adapt the material without parody, as in a touching song for Sidney Carlton, just to show their respect and remind us of what a quietly powerful writer Dickens was.

The five performers each night are drawn from a pool of seven, of whom Matthew Hendrickson, Simon Jermond and Gabriel Vick seem the most regular. All sing, act and play various instruments as required, almost all wind up in drag at one point or another, and all work together well to keep the energy and fun levels high throughout.

So, a reassurance - you don't have to know much Dickens to get the jokes, though it does help, and it might actually make you want to go out and read the originals. In any case, you're assured of a couple of hours of light and happy fun.

Gerald Berkowitz

A shorter version of the show was tried out at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007. Here's what we wrote then:

Dickens Unplugged   Adam Long, one of the trio who developed the fast-moving spoof Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged two decades ago, has turned his attention to Charles Dickens, and the result, while perhaps not quite as laugh-a-second as the Shakespeare show, is also considerably less frantic, and thus possibly even more enjoyable. A cast of five invoke songs, sketches and sight gags to work their way irreverently through a handful of Dickens novels and an outline of his life.  Oliver Twist is a five-minute condensation of the musical, interrupted by a Dickens horrified by its sugar coating. Bleak House and Great Expectations are quickly dismissed through very funny Gilbertian patter songs. David Copperfield gets a fuller treatment, with the quick-changing and occasionally in-drag cast racing through the plot and presenting the characters in ways that will make it difficult to read the novel seriously ever again. Barkus is a leering bumpkin, Dora thick as a plank, and David so cheerfully self-absorbed as to be oblivious to all the human dramas around him. A Christmas Carol gets what is almost a straight rush-through, though it might surprise some to find Tiny Tim quite so Chav-ish or to learn that the terrifying visions of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come include television and the Millennium Dome. Obviously, it helps to know some Dickens in order to appreciate the real cleverness of some of the jokes, but there's enough broad silliness to entertain even those who don't know their Oliver from their Copperfield.   Gerald Berkowitz

Return to TheatreguideLondon home page.

Review - Dickens Unplugged - Comedy 2008