The Old Curiosity Shop is the story of a journey made by Little Nell (Caroline Lucas), a beautiful and virtuous girl “not quite fourteen,” and her grandfather (Patrick Conner), the proprietor of the shop filled with odds and ends. Life with her grandfather, who loves her dearly, is a lonely existence for Nell. She has almost no friends her age except Kit (Jacob Epstein), an honest boy employed at the shop.
Her grandfather is obsessed with ensuring that she does not die in poverty as her parents did. His attempts to provide Nell with a good inheritance through gambling at cards forces him to borrow money from the malicious, grotesquely deformed, hunchbacked dwarf moneylender, Daniel Quilp (Martin Giles). Her grandfather gambles away what little money they have, and Quilp seizes the opportunity to take possession of the shop and evict Nell and her grandfather.
The play follows them through England as they run from Quilp. On their journey, they meet with a mixture of kindness and ill fortunes while encountering some of the most memorable characters drawn from the imagination of Charles Dickens.
One of the 19th Century’s genius storytellers, Dickens’ characters are overly amplified caricatures of people and professions of the day, scoundrels, schemers, drunkards, and lechers. Many of the characters in The Old Curiosity Shop are instantly unlikeable, almost repulsive. The audience finds empathy for Nell and her grandfather but relishes the deplorable characters.
Stanford: “In The Old Curiosity Shop, we see a young girl, abused in the name of love by an aging grandparent, whose addiction to gambling is justified in his mind by the need to provide for his grandchild. Through this, she becomes victim to homelessness, poverty and the whims of a predator.”
Stanford has assembled an incredibly talented cast of actors; veterans and those early in their careers to fill the lead roles and the ensemble. Martin Giles, who is in complete command of the stage, has created a mesmerizing Quilp, an exquisite and finely detailed portrayal you love to hate to watch. If for no other reason, and there are many other reasons, go see this production to see Giles as Quilp.
Standout performances well worthy of mention; Quilp’s scoundrel sibling lawyers, the buttoned-down Sampson Brass and his hatchet-faced sister Sally, played to delicious perfection by James Fitzgerald and Karen Baum. Jordan Ross Weinhold’s character Dick Swiveller is likable as the lazy yet aspiring wealthy man about town who ultimately gets the girl, just not the one he schemed for. Weinhold has an excellent sense of comedic timing, great facial expression, and just a hint of a drunkards red nose. He and Calema Graham, whose character, the Brass’ mouse-like scullery maid, seem superfluous at first, have a nice bit together as they unravel Quilp’s plans. Patrick Conner’s Grandfather is a nice combination of a clueless and doting guardian obsessed with finding the next winning hand at cards. Jeff Monahan’s Single Gent provides the perfect counterpoint to the evils of Quilp.
Ken Bolden, Sean Lenhart, Kendra McLaughlin, Jonathan Visser cover multiple characters with an excellent degree of differentiation. Caroline Lucas and Jacob Epstein as Nell and Kit are two high school students with impressive talent and promising acting careers ahead of them. Joan Markert’s costume design is vibrant and varied both in color pallet and texture with a style sense aligned with the early 1800’s and the individual characters personas.
PICT’s home at the Fred Roger’s Studio at WQED in Oakland provides the company with a black-box performance space above par for Pittsburgh. The design team has taken full advantage of the area and facilities. PICT has installed new stadium seating in the studio with unobstructed views for the entire audience.
PICT’s The Old Curiosity Shop, a classic Dicken’s story brilliantly adapted to the stage with memorable characters played a talented ensemble of experienced actors in rich costumes under superb direction at a great performance venue makes for an unforgettable theatrical experience. Make time to see this Haunting Tale of Little Nell.
The Old Curiosity Shop, adapted by Alan Stanford from the novel by Charles Dickens has performances now through Saturday, December 15. Dinner and show packages are available in conjunction with the Mansions on Fifth. For more information and tickets click here.:
George Hoover got his start in theatre in Miami when his family ran the Coconut Grove Playhouse. His career encompasses a variety of work in both the design and technical side of motion pictures, live theatre, and television. George is a three-time Emmy Award winner, member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Broadcasting & Cable Technology Leadership Award winner, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers Life Fellow, and most importantly a passionate theatre person and generally handy guy.
Categories: Archived Reviews