Mercury Theatre to premiere new production of Great Expectations in May

Mercury Theatre has announced a new production of Great Expectations as part of their Spring/Summer season.

Mercury Theatre’s Creative Director Ryan McBryde directs the new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel by Gale Childs Daly.

Running 12 – 27 May 2023 at the Colchester venue, the cast will feature Stanton Wright as Pip, alongside Bessy Ewa, Jim Fish, Gareth Kennerley, Sam Lupton and Emily Pollet.

Further creatives include Libby Todd (designer), Rajiv Pattani (lighting designer), Chihiro Kawasaki (movement director), Stefan Janik (sound designer) and Natalie Gallacher (casting director) with
assistant director (Birkbeck Placement) Emmy Briggs.

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.

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.

For more information and tickets, visit mercurytheatre.co.uk