Oliver! Reviews Round-up – Chichester Festival Theatre | West End Theatre (2024)

"A Dickens of a show"

"While still an unashamed love letter to Bart and to a robust, raunchy Dickensian London, the tone is more complex, striking darker notes and, once it gets going, telling a gripping tale which sends shivers down the spine, thanks to Aaron Sidwell’s bloodless, steely, chillingly brutish Bill Sikes. That scar on his skull spells danger."

"Bourne’s spring-loaded, high- kicking, petticoat-flouncing dancers fill every inch of the stage. With the revolve working overtime, designer Lez Brotherston conjures up a giddying canvas of glorious, gritty views of London, capturing the boisterous bustle of street life with lovely murky backdrops of the Thames and St Paul’s on the skyline, as well as scenes of quiet cruelty behind closed doors."

"Lipkin overdoes the ad-libbing a tad, occasionally jumping through the fourth wall to send himself up, as well as the show"

"... the heart and soul of this show belongs to Shanay Holmes’s degraded, defiant, shattered and shattering Nancy, leaving you in no doubt that a lifetime of selling herself has come at an appalling emotional cost. Her rendition of As Long As He Needs Me raises the roof."

"A West End run has already been announced. Who could ask for more?"

"The indestructible Dickens musical returns with a Twist"

"Matthew Bourne and Cameron Mackintosh’s heartfelt West End-bound Chichester revival is guaranteed to put a spring in your step"

"Fans are understandably protective of Oliver! And few are more equipped to be so than Cameron Mackintosh, its longstanding producer. But even he knows nothing can be preserved in aspic. And so the big Twist proffered in this West End-bound Chichester revival is to go for intimacy and a quality of simplicity in keeping with the “poor theatre” aesthetic that characterised Sean Kenny’s original 1960 designs and Bart’s own East End theatre roots. That’s not to say that this reconception, with choreography and direction by Matthew Bourne (with Jean-Pierre van der Spuy), shortchanges the spectacle – it’s more to squish it."

"... Simon Lipkin’s gaudily piratical fa*gin, steering away from crafty, wily stereotype but still heading into larger than life caricature (and threatening the poignancy of Reviewing the Situation with comic ad-libs), may make more sense during the panto-season."

"On opening night, the wide-eyed, sweetly smiling 12-year-old Cian Eagle-Service took the lead, melting hearts from that famous first request for more gruel, past the plaintive, prayer-like solo “Where is Love?” and on to the climactic, unapologetically melodramatic, rescue. “He should have taken the final bow” someone muttered. I think so too."

"Matthew Bourne’s revival is a jolly, comforting winner"

"It’s a while since I’ve heard the Chichester Festival Theatre audience explode into such passionate applause as they did for this old-school co*ckney knees-up"

"This version of the vintage musical, which is heading to the West End in the autumn, may be more intimate than the productions Mackintosh presented at the Palladium and Drury Lane, but it’s still very much Bart’s show."

"Shanay Holmes’s Nancy earned some of the loudest cheers for an impassioned rendition of As Long As He Needs Me,which provides a measure of anguish amid all the jollity."

"What to do about the unsettling caricature of fa*gin? Simon Lipkin’s wheeler-dealer is recognisably Jewish, but this ne’er-do-well is a breezily engaging figure who is happy to banter with the audience."

"After the lavish but disappointing revival of Coram Boy, a play that has more than a touch of Dickens in its machinations and juxtapositions of upstairs-downstairs life, Chichester has backed a comforting winner."

"Oozes atmosphere"

"Cameron Mackintosh’s revival of the classic Lionel Bart musical is fresh and vibrant in a production directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne"

"Revival, Glorious Revival"

"The creative team have genuinely breathed new life into this staple of British musical theatre. It’s a joyous celebration and a genuine feel-good show. It already has its West End transfer secured, so even if you think you are already too familiar with it, give it another go, you might just be surprised!"

"The CFT has done it again"

"The show convinced me, as an Oliver! hater, of its greatness; if you’re already an Oliver! lover, don’t think twice. Get to Chichester and wallow in its seedy, Victorian glory."

"Why we want some more of this glorious musical"

"‘Is it worth the waiting for … ?’ are the opening lyrics of Oliver! and of one of its most famous numbers – Food Glorious Food. Chichester audiences have been asking the same question about this show ever since it was unveiled as the musical centrepiece of the Festival and, to pun another of its huge numbers, having reviewed the situation the answer is a resounding Yes."

"Divine yet danger-averse revival could be renamed fa*gin!"

"New staging of classic has perfect singing, cute choreography by Matthew Bourne, but rather too little daring – and one show-stealing performance"

"There are some musicals that really do earn the overstretched moniker of “timeless”. This is one of them, not only for Charles Dickens’s resonant story of child poverty but also because every last one of Lionel Bart’s songs is exquisite."

"The performances are polished with cute choreography by Matthew Bourne while Lez Brotherston’s set is gorgeous, its black-and-white Victorian-era projections classy. Yet, in spite of all the elegance, pace and poise, it feels safe, tame and nostalgic."

"Revised by Mackintosh, it feels surprisingly – disappointingly – faithful. There is the sense of a show that is immaculately orchestrated rather than one that comes with a big enough emotional life."

"The problem of Nancy (Shanay Holmes) is less resolved. A victim of domestic violence at the hands of Bill Sikes (Aaron Sidwell), she is slapped to the ground and gets back up to sing As Long As He Needs Me. Holmes is a remarkable singer but this depiction does not have the complicated, knowing elements that Lipkin’s fa*gin brings. It is played straight, which seems like a missed opportunity."

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👤News Team 📅25 July 2024
Tags: Aaron Sidwell, Billy Jenkins, Cameron Mackintosh, Chichester Festival Theatre, Gielgud Theatre, Matthew Bourne, Oliver!, Philip Franks, Shanay Holmes, Simon Lipkin