Oliver!

Watermill Theatre until Saturday September 2015

I've always thought Oliver Twist was an odd choice for a musical, with its themes of child poverty, homelessness, domestic abuse and murder. In fact, Lionel Bart didn't know the story when he decided to create a musical from it, and eventually came to describe it as 'freely adapted' from Dickens' classic story. By including delightful songs, humour and only a bit of Victorian hardship, Bart created a massive hit when it opened in London. This is a wonderfully exuberant version of the story of an orphan boy's search for love, and the songs are as fresh as when they first hit the stage in 1960.

The Watermill always astounds with its musical theatre, staging productions which would normally need a stage five times as big. Great creativity in the clever staging and set design makes a virtue of the constraints. There are, unbelievably, 22 in the cast, with 11 children aged 8-13, and 11 adults, often all appearing on stage at the same time. The logistics of rehearsing 3 separate groups of children must have been pretty challenging, and quite how everyone fits in to the cosy ex-corn bins of the dressing rooms upstairs is hard to imagine.

The children all come from the local community, mostly with no training and little experience. Child leads at this performance were Raiko Gohara as Oliver, and Rhydian Watson as the Artful Dodger, both with excellent voices.

The theatre is famous for its use of player-singer-actors, born out of necessity in the tiny auditorium. No matter how many times you see it, the versatility is astonishing, and I simply have no idea how anyone can sing, dance and act while playing something (often enormous, like a cello! Or a Tuba!) as well.

There are some striking vignettes which underline just how lovely the music is: Oliver sings 'Who Will Buy', while street vendors wheel round his bed; Fagin (the excellent Cameron Blakely) and urchins sing a memorable 'You Gotta Pick a Pocket or two' : Nancy (the gorgeously-voiced Alice Fearn) pretty much steals every scene she's in; and Kit Orton's Bill Sikes is horribly malign, singing 'My Name' with real venom.

If the night is fine, the action goes into the garden just after the interval, for a bit of a sing-song with Oompahpah. Random summers have meant that use of the garden in productions has been limited of late, so it's lovely to enjoy the theatre's setting. Oliver! is a fitting tribute to Hedda Beeby the Artistic Director, who leaves in September.

Pat Harper