By contemporary standards, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is scarcely a very long work. Weighing-in just under 200,000 words, it’s a coming-of-age tale that was originally a popular work of serialized fiction. It was a bit like the mid-19th century version of Downton Abbey. Still...bringing it to the stage in a sweeping drama poses quite a few challenges. In its staging of the story, Acacia Theatre seems to have met these challenges head-on.
An episodic story can be one of the more difficult things to bring to the stage. Judging from copy found in the show’s press release, Director Chris Goode seems to have delighted in tackling the challenges:
"There are so many scene and set changes that need to be accomplished through very brief, suggestive, theatrical conceits. Adding a sense of theatrical whimsy to a very serious play is a particular challenge, but our audiences will be in for a truly unique evening of theatre.”
Acacia Theatre’s staging of the Barbara Field adaptation of Great Expectations runs March 20 - 29 at the Todd Wehr Auditorium on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin. For more information, visit acaciatheatre.com.
