Photo by Laura Heise
Acacia Theatre Company’s production of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is thoughtful, engaging and well executed. Each actor embraces his or her character(s) to the fullest, offering beautiful forward momentum without feeling rushed. Dickens’ story itself, adapted by Barbara Field for the stage, covers themes that are still relevant today within an interesting story. A young boy who lost both his parents, Pip is being reared by his sister and her husband in 1800s England. Pip wants to be content with his rural blacksmithing life, but can’t ignore the idea of what it would be like to be a wealthy gentleman in London, especially when being ridiculed by the wealthy Miss Havisham’s daughter, Estella. Pip eventually gets the opportunity to pursue his gentleman ambitions due to an anonymous benefactor and, though it seems to be exactly what he wants at first, he soon realizes that following the “great expectations” of everyone else doesn’t lead to personal happiness.
Director Chris Goode excellently utilizes a few of the performers for multiple roles. It is quite impressive to watch the spot-on character shifts as well as the quick costume changes onstage. Dan Hummel addressed the challenge of various location changes with finesse, having created a lovely static set that offers actors the ability to smoothly transition between scenes without distracting from the storyline. The sound effects by Therese Goode are also worth mentioning, with actors effectually clapping wood boards together for boats crashing and crinkling red wrapping paper to emulate a fire on stage. A triangle is also struck throughout the play and effectively marks the passage of time as well as momentous realizations.
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Jonathan Wainwright thoughtfully takes us on Pip’s journey with very fine acting and believable emotional development as the character grapples with societal class and his personal relations. The interplay between Wainwright and Timothy Gotcher, as Pip’s best friend, is lovely and brings the question to mind: Why do people allow class standards set by society to interrupt long-time friendships? The cast took on Dickens’ many themes adeptly and it was sometimes uncomfortable to watch what was being addressed—for example, the ideas that one should be embarrassed and/or secretive about having an “aged parent,” that a man is seen as getting “soft in the head” when he marries, and that love is the same as blind devotion. A good amount of questions and notions like these are raised and the audience is challenged to really think about how people view the world and why we may treat or see others as we do.
Additional standouts include Ben Parman as Herbert Pocket, who offers superb expression as Pip’s gentleman roommate and is a joy to watch; Joe Dolan as the criminal, Magwitch; Mary Atwood as Miss Havisham, who does a nice job playing the (crazy) heartbroken bride left at the altar years ago; and Doug Smedbron as the wealthy Pumblechook and aged parent.
Great Expectations runs through March 29 at Concordia University’s Todd Wehr Auditorium, 12800 North Lake Shore Drive, Mequon. For tickets, call 414-744-5995 or visit acaciatheatre.com.
