By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Tim Fuller
Miss Havisham (Cynthia Meier) confronts her haunted past in the shrouded figure of Christopher Pankratz.
Even though you've read Charles Dickens' “Great Expectations,” or quickly scanned the Cliff's Notes version, you will be further enlightened by The Rogue Theatre's presentation of the Jo Clifford adaptation of “Great Expectations” to the stage.
Clifford is an internationally regarded playwright, translator, poet and performer, formerly a Professor of Theatre at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. But don't worry, her adaptation is never stodgy.
As directed by Christopher Johnson for The Rogue, we get an earthy Dickens who never holds back on criticizing upscale London's hypocrisy in the early 1800s.
The novel is often described as Pip's coming-of-age tale, but I've always thought of it more as what happened when Pip as a boy suddenly decided he wanted to become cool. Or in the vernacular of those times, to become “a gentleman.”
As Act One begins, Pip the homeless child has been taken under the wing of the village blacksmith, Mr. Joe. This is a lower class but reliable life, only Pip wants more.
Suddenly, an anonymous benefactor appears and Pip has all the money he needs to do most anything. Including court the formerly unobtainable Estella, adopted daughter of the wealthy but perpetually sad Miss Havisham. Decades earlier Miss Havisham was jilted at the altar and she has never taken off her wedding dress since.
Pip quickly learns, even though he has money now, he has no idea how to become a gentleman – or at least act like one. Especially after Estella has shown no interest in “the newly wealthy” Pip whatsoever.
So we sit entranced as the Rogue cast carries on. “Great Expectations” was a very thick book with lots of characters, we remember, so the stage version also has a long list of actors, with several taking on double roles, all wearing elaborate costumes.
Leading the pack is Hunter Hnat as Pip, who ages during the play from a lad of seven to a dashing man in his early 20s. For Hnat this is a career defining performance. Watching this evolution on stage is like watching a flower blossom.
Bryn Booth is the emotional Estella, ranging from suppressed to smoldering and then ablaze with anger. Her scenes with Pip become electrifying.
But it is Cynthia Meier in the role of Miss Havisham who deserves to have her own spin-off show just like they do on TV. Meier captures the hunted and haunted personality in so many shades of smothering defiance and consuming revenge she becomes fascinating.
Joseph McGrath is excellent with a pair of widely divergent parts, the elegant lawyer Jaggers and the runaway criminal Magwitch.
Gretchen Wirges thrives on raving intensity as Mrs. Joe, Pip's older and infinitely more cruel sister, married to kindhearted, good ol' Joe the blacksmith.
“Great Expectations” continues through Nov. 20 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. matinees Saturdays and Sundays, at The Rogue Theatre, 300 E. University Blvd.
Tickets are $42 general admission. Current COVID protocol is to strongly suggest wearing a mask except when eating or drinking. For further details, www.theroguetheatre.org or phone 520-551-2053.
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