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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Winning comes at a cost for SOU ... Ashland school board chairman says Superintendent Hummel will leave his mark ... Hitting the books — and bikes ... Winning comes at a cost for SOU ... Ashland school board chairman says Superintendent Hummel will leave his mark ... Hitting the books — and bikes ... THEATER REVIEW 'Great Expectations' flawed, but a trip worth taking Comment By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 8:49 PM By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 8:49 PM » Social News It is an uphill battle to adapt a novel for the stage, and a doubly challenging task to do so when that novel is so vaunted a classic as Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations." Questions arise. Is the work robust enough to stand up to any reinterpretation that an adapting artist might decide to throw at it? How far can one push the envelope before a classic becomes a confusing simulacrum of the original? In evaluating Oregon Shakespeare Festival's new production of "Great Expectations," we find that there is plenty to like from the actors and script. However, much of what Penny Metropulos has tried to do visually with the beloved Victorian bildungsroman seems patchy and convoluted. The staging, while interesting, is sparse and contemporary, with a cyclorama of wooden slats and a barren stage that does not correlate with the lush, period-specific costuming of the cast. The director has employed no fewer than five onstage narrators, clad in green, as middlemen between the action and the audience. In addition to that Greek chorus, the patrons are also treated to audio recordings of the disembodied voices of the principal actors in the play, echoing statements that have already been made moments prior, as if to suggest that the public is incapable of catching on to simple character arcs unless they are compelled to suffer through multiple explanations. Lighting cues are complicated, and there are pinpoint spotlights aplenty; performers seem trapped in phosphorescent cages while all around is dark. There are conspicuous moments in which actors leave Victoria behind to go and visit Elizabeth, merrily quoting Shakespeare, as though the Misses Metropulos and Alper are eager to let us all know that they are friends of the Festival. On opening night, at least one lighting cue was missed, and an actor who was racing between two roles flubbed his lines. Such transgressions are perhaps forgivable in the lower echelons of regional theater — but at OSF, an international standard is expected, and that standard should always be met. Much of the power of the original work gets lost in the self-conscious and heavy-handed directing. All of that said, the acting, in general, is good. Benjamin Bonenfant is a a handsome and quick-witted fellow, giving us a convincing and charismatic Pip. Nemuna Ceesay manages to deliver a cool and provocative Estella, despite serving in two additional rolls in the production and, yes, you guessed it, one of them is as narrator. Al Espinosa does a wonderful job as Joe Gargery, Pip's brother-in-law and perennial champion; he has great chemistry with the young Pip, played with liveliness by Bodhi Johnson, a child actor worth watching, now in his first season at OSF. Flora Chavez, as young Estella, is all coquettish contradiction, and Derrick Lee Weeden is a menacing Magwitch. But the anchoring presence throughout the action is found in Judith-Marie Bergan as Miss Havisham. Bergan is adept at playing desolate women who have been abandoned in a garden of regret. Her turn as Mary in last season's "Long Day's Journey into Night" left this critic with, well, great expectations as to what she might do with Dickens, and Bergan delivers. Her languid, wasted Havisham is terrific. She plays out the characters longing and self-loathing with exquisite detail, a wizened hand in the dark. Through Richard Howard as John Wemmick, an archetypal English eccentric, along with his "Aged Parent," played by Cristofer Jean, much of the comic relief of the play is delivered. Dylan Paul as Pocket and Michael Elich as Mr. Jaggers are proficient contrasting metaphors for the light and dark aspects of Pip's adult life in London. In all, this adaptation of "Great Expectations" picks up steam as it moves along, and by the end of the evening, the audience seems satisfied. As Dickens himself once wrote, "I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart." For the love of art, see this challenging production. Afterwards, you can voice any opinion you deem fit to express. Ashland resident Jeffrey Gillespie is a Daily Tidings columnist, arts reviewer and freelance writer. Email him at gillespie.jeffrey @gmail.com. By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 8:49 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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