Charles Dickens is a name that looms large over British literature. From Great Expectations to Bleak House, his influence is huge. ‘Bah, humbug’ and ‘please sir, can I have some more?’ are as well-known as ‘to be or not to be’. It is this recognition that fired the Dickens spoof Bleak Expectations on Radio 4 from 2007 to 2012, with a short-lived TV version in 2007. It then transferred to the stage in 2022, and The Crescent Theatre’s version is an amateur production of that play.

The plot is too nonsensical to explain in detail. The play is essentially the life of Sir Philip Bin, who as an older man recounts his younger self’s exploits. These include his repeated tanglings with his guardian and nemesis Gently Benevolent (the name is ironic) as well as various members of the Hardthrasher family, dalliances with Flora Dies-Early (you can guess) and Ripley Fecund. He is not helped in these endeavours by his best friend Harry Biscuit and his sisters Pippa and Poppy.

It is important to make clear, as the play does, that is interested in having as many jokes in it as possible and it does not care how it gets these jokes. It spoofs Dickens in the same way that Airplane spoofs disaster movies: it takes the spine, and some elements, and bolts as many jokes as possible onto it. Some of these are based on Dickens and some aren’t. Rest assured, many of them are extremely silly. An evening of high-brow entertainment this is not. It is well made, with a single standing set of what appears to be a library and props carried on and off, which combine with lighting cues to indicate many different locations.

The costumes, to someone who is not a specialist on 19^th century dress, seemed to be historically accurate (and that is putting aside the question of whether that matters in this case). The Crescent Theatre have done much to compensate for their limited budget, often turning it to their advantage in the case of a moment involving a jury. There is also a recurring joke involving Sir Philip’s choice of drink, which again is not clever but prompted my neighbour to unprompted say ‘that’s very funny!’

I do realise that the show’s wit and humour has dominated this review, but that is because it dominates the show. It has no desire to examine the kinds of social issues that Dickens himself used his novels to investigate. A sub-plot involving an escaped convict prompts no questions in a time when prisoners are getting early release.

There is no time, space, or inclination to address the true blindness of Lady Justice during an important court scene. The whole evening is done at the kind of pace required to get through this number of jokes. Your enjoyment of the evening will depend on how discerning you are about your jokes. If you are prepared to lie back and just enjoy your time, an excellent night awaits you at the Crescent Theatre. If not, their next play on is All My Sons which you are more likely to enjoy.

Bleak Expectations runs at The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, from 14th to 21st September. To book, visit www.crescent-theatre.co.uk or call 0121 643 5858

Rating: 3/5

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