'Nicholas Nickleby' A Boston Theatre Event

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby                                   

Adapted by David Edgar from the novel by Charles Dickens; Directed by Spiro Veloudos; Associate Director Courtney O'Connor; Scenic Design, Janie E. Howland; Costume Design, Rafael Jaen; Lighting Design, Scott Clyve; Production Stage Manager, Nerys Powell; Assistant Stage Manager, Katie Ailinger; Original Music Composed and Produced by Kevin O'Shaughnessy

Featuring: Leigh Barrett, Peter A. Carey, Neil A. Casey, Sasha Castroverde, Larry Coen, Daniel Cohen, Michael Steven Costello, Jack Cutmore-Scott, John Davin, Kerry A. Dowling, Nigel Gore, Eric Hamel, Hannah Husband, Daniel Berger-Jones, Maureen Keiller, Will Lyman, Grant MacDermott, Joseph Marrella, Janelle Day Mills, Sally Nutt, Jason Powers, Elizabeth A. Rimar, Alycia Sacco, Erica Spyres

Performances of Parts I & II in Rotating Repertory through December 19 at The Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA; Box Office 617-585-5678 or www.lyricstage.com

For a novelist, Charles Dickens was a very good dramatist whose works have become fodder for several well-known and beloved plays. Viewing a performance of A Christmas Carol, whether live or onscreen, is an annual tradition for many, and the musical version of Oliver Twist (Oliver!) has added numerous popular songs to the Broadway canon. In 1980, David Edgar's adaptation of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby won an Olivier Award and, after crossing the pond, took home the 1982 Tony Award for Best Play and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play (Roger Rees).  Due to its length and epic scope, Nicholas Nickleby has rarely been reproduced. Enter Spiro Veloudos and The Lyric Stage Company of Boston.

It is no hyperbole to claim, as did American Theatre Magazine, that Nicholas Nickleby is "the theatrical experience of a lifetime."  While the original play, nearly nine hours in length, has been trimmed by Edgar to a more manageable five and a half hours divided into two parts, it still contains 324 pages of script and involves 24 actors playing more than 150 characters with approximately 1700 costume pieces and 300 props. If you have been a patron of the Lyric Stage, you are well aware of the challenge this poses in the available space; if you've never attended a show here, suffice to say that the thrust stage is cozy and intimate, but seems large only in comparison to a crammed subway car. Artistic Director Veloudos was undaunted (or perhaps was daunted and went forward anyway) and took up the gauntlet. The result is a landmark artistic and collaborative achievement in the Boston theatre community.    

The all-star ensemble cast includes many local favorites, among them Leigh Barrett, Peter A. Carey, Neil A. Casey, Larry Coen, John Davin, Kerry Dowling, Daniel Berger-Jones, and Maureen Keiller.  Featured players Will Lyman and Nigel Gore vie for the mantle of most evil character as Ralph Nickleby, Nicholas' Scrooge-like uncle, and Mr. Wackford Squeers/Sir Mulberry Hawk respectively. Up-and-comer London native and recent Harvard grad Jack Cutmore-Scott dons the cutaway coat of the title character and is equally adept at expressing Nicholas' boyish charm and his youthful, righteous indignation. His connection with Elizabeth A. Rimar as Nicholas' feisty sister Kate is genuine, but he shares the best chemistry with Jason Powers who infuses the production with so much heart as Smike, the disabled boy Nicholas rescues from the boarding school run by Squeers. In a company teeming with talent and worthy performances, Barrett, Coen, and Sasha Castroverde stand out for the range of characters they portray; Berger-Jones credibly transforms Lord Verisopht into a mensch; Carey gives Newman Noggs soulful dignity; and it's always great fun to watch Casey's expressions, especially when he doesn't have a line.   

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby offers a veritable feast of characters and storylines (Beware: spoilers ahead!) for the audience to chew on. Having been left destitute by their father's death, Nicholas, Kate, and their mother travel to London to seek support from wealthy Uncle Ralph. A hard taskmaster with a bootstraps mentality, Ralph separates the family when he gets Nicholas a position with Squeers, places Kate as an assistant in a millinery shop, and moves mother and daughter into one of his slum homes. Eventually, both brother and sister encounter difficulties in their employment. Nicholas cannot abide the abuse that Squeers heaps upon his charges and fights back before escaping to London with Smike. Kate innocently incites jealousy in a senior co-worker and winds up being fired.

Nicholas reunites briefly with his family, but Ralph is outraged by his actions against Squeers and threatens to cut off support to the womenfolk. Taking to the road once again, Nicholas and Smike join the Crummles theatrical company where they are warmly welcomed into the ample bosom of the traveling thespian family. (Think Mr. & Mrs. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol.) Ralph takes Kate into his employ to serve as hostess when he entertains business associates at his house, but Sir Mulberry Hawk attempts to take advantage of her as the others choose to look the other way. When Kate obtains a position as a lady's companion, she continues to be hounded by the powerful Hawk. She complains to her uncle who asks that she put up with it until Hawk tires of the chase, so as not to spoil their business relationship.

Ralph's clerk Noggs overhears Kate's plight and sends for Nicholas. Along the way, he encounters Hawk and earnestly defends his sister's honor, seriously injuring his opponent, and then writes a letter renouncing his uncle. Somehow, Nicholas lands on his feet again when he is hired by the cheerful, charitable Cheeryble Brothers to help a destitute girl whose ailing father has squandered the family fortune. Madeline Bray is promised in marriage to a greedy old moneylender in cahoots with Ralph, but the Nickleby siblings and the brothers conspire to prevent the wedding and bring Ralph down in the process.

This synopsis barely scratches the surface of Dickens' very dense tale, but suffice it to say that Nicholas Nickleby is representative of the author's genre. He writes of what he knows, having been destitute as a child when his middle class family fell into debt, and having to make his own way in London in the early part of the nineteenth century. Dickens was a self-made man and supported himself with his prolific writing. His life informs his works and NN is no exception. Nicholas even becomes a playwright when he is traveling with the Crummles. However, the distinctive themes which stand out in this play and most of Dickens' writing, that argue for the importance of continuing to present his work, are his exposure of the conditions of the under classes, the immorality of the wealthy and powerful, and the compassion the author displays toward humanity.  

Veloudos and Associate Director Courtney O'Connor deserve immeasurable credit simply for staging the play and successfully juggling all of the details inherent in a production of this size and scope. That they have also created a dramatic, humorous, and heartfelt piece of theatre that is entertaining for all six hours is extraordinary. The visual trappings of Rafael Jaen's spot on period costumes, Janie E. Howland's utile tiered set, and Scott Clyve's lighting design enhance and highlight every scene. Having the cast enter and exit through the aisles and ramps to the lobby embeds us in the experience and original music by Kevin O'Shaughnessy transports us to Dickens' London. I highly recommend the journey.

Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard (Will Lyman, John Davin, Maureen Keiller, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Elizabeth A. Rimar)