Oliver! gets its first big makeover in 30 years — and it’s gorgeous
8 / 10
Where Mackintosh has most visibly rung the changes, very smartly, is with Fagin. Too mean and he’s the antisemitic stereotype. Too cuddly and you’re taking out what tension there is. Simon Lipkin, who has been with the show since it began in Chichester last summer, is a serious pleasure. He is vigorous enough literally to toss an urchin out of the way, but vulnerable enough for us to feel for him without anyone saying: “Hey, amoral ringleaders of child pickpocketing gangs have their own truth, y’know.”
