Ahead of opening the world première adaption of Manjeet Mann’s Carnegie Medal-winning young adult novel Run Rebel, Mercury Theatre today announces their new production of Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, as part of their Spring/Summer season.
Directed by Mercury Theatre’s Creative Director Ryan McBryde and adapted by Gale Childs Daly, further creatives include James Button (designer), Rajiv Pattani (lighting designer), Chihiro Kawasaki (movement director) and Natalie Gallacher (casting director), with more to be announced.
Following the childhood and young adult years of a blacksmith’s apprentice, Dickens’ much loved protagonist Pip comes into a large fortune from a mysterious benefactor and moves to London where he enters high society. Great Expectations opens 17 May, with previews from 12 May, and runs until 27 May, with full cast yet to be announced.
Creative Director Ryan McBryde said: “The reason Dickens’ classic tale remains so popular today is because it’s themes of obsession, revenge and class mobility still feel so startling relevant. It’s the ultimate coming of age story as Pip learns that his “great expectations” – social status and wealth – are less important than loyalty and compassion. Gale’s script reads like a thriller; the atmosphere just leaps off the page, pulls you in and doesn’t let you go until the very last word is uttered.”
The production completes Mercury Theatre’s Spring/Summer season, alongside the previously announced co-production with Pilot Theatre, Belgrade Theatre, Derby Theatre and York Theatre, Run Rebel; Dario Fo’s They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! as adapted by Deborah McAndrew; Mercury Creatives alumni Mia Jerome’s Mercury Original The Instrumentals for young audiences; and Derren Brown’s Unbelievable, directly ahead of the show’s West End run.
Pip, a blacksmith’s apprentice and orphan, dreams of becoming a London gentleman. When his wish is granted by a mysterious benefactor, his life becomes one extraordinary encounter after another. He is plunged into a world of dark secrets and cruel twists of fate, where beautiful girls are used as weapons, and nothing is more important than knowing who you are and remembering where you came from.
