Of all the Dickens novels I read as a youth, Great Expectations was always a favourite. From the opening pages of Pip’s terrifying encounter with Abel Magwitch in the graveyard, the novel’s compelling story and Pip’s momentous life journey had me gripped. This was a story
I could absolutely relate to because of the aspiration of the main character, Pip, to rise above his class and status and to be educated. It was what my 24 year old father aspired to when he got on a ship in Bombay in 1961 and sailed to England with the obligatory £1 note in his pocket .
In this adaptation, I relocated the action of the play to India of 1861 which meant that I could use Dickens language without having to worry about modernising it. But I didn’t want to do a straight forward ‘Asian’ adaptation. So, Magwitch is now a black convict from Cape
Colony. He is not a slave (as slavery was abolished by the British by 1861) but an African sailor with a criminal background. His story, as in the original, is one borne of poverty and degradation but in this adaptation , his anger at the white man’s treatment of the black man lends an added fury. He is determined to make Pip into ‘an English gentleman’ who will be able to hold his head high. Miss Havisham, the lawyer Jaggers and Herbert Pocket all represent the different English facets of the Raj whilst Joe Gargery (now a cobbler) and Pip and Biddy are Indian villagers.
During the early part of the British Raj, Calcutta was the capitol city and Pip journeys there to begin his education as an English gentleman. I was fascinated by the way the Colonial
British authorities in India educated Indians of ‘good families’ in a very English way, encouraging them to embrace English values and morals. It wasn’t an accident that
Jawaharlal Nehru (The First Prime Minister of India) and Mohammed Ali Jinnah (The first
Governor General of Pakistan) qualified as barristers in London and then went back to India to fight for their country’s independence.
Ultimately, Pip’s dissatisfaction at the way he is treated by the English leads him to question their wisdom and awakens his Indian pride. Whilst Pip loses a lot at the end of the play
(Estella, Magwitch and his inheritance), he gains a life-long friend in the quintessentially -
English Herbert Pocket. It is this friendship across the races which gives us hope and which propels us forward into the present day.
Tanika Gupta

Tanika Gupta was born in 1963 in Chiswick, and is a British playwright of Bengali origin. She read moden history at Oxford University, then worked for an Asian Women's Refuge in
Manchester and as a community worker in London while beginning to write.
She has written for television, including for East Enders, Grange Hill, A Suitable Boy, The
Bill, Crossroads , and adaptations and original radio plays for BBC Radio. She also wrote for the Asian network soap, Silver Street , and the BBC World Service soap, Westway .
Her work for theatre includes many stage plays, the most recent being Meet The
Mukherjees (2008), performed at Bolton Octagon theatre. Her first stage play was Voices on the Wind , which was workshopped at the National Theatre Studio in 1995. It tells the story of her 19-year-old great uncle, Dinesh Gupta, who was an Indian freedom fighter and was hanged by the British as a terrorist in 1930.
Other plays include: Skeleton (1997) at Soho Theatre; an adaptation of Geeta Mehta's A
River Sutra (Indoza 1997); The Waiting Room (2000) at the National Theatre; a translation of Brecht's The Good Woman of Setzuan (National Theatre Education 2001); Sanctuary
(2002) at the National Theatre; and Inside Out (2002). Her adaptation of Hobson's Choice
(2003) played at the Young Vic; Fragile Land (2003) at Hampstead; and Gladiator Games
(2005) at Sheffield Crucible and Stratford East theatres. A group play, Catch (2006), was performed at the Royal Court Theatre, and White Boy (2008) at the National Youth Theatre/
Soho.
Tanika Gupta was awarded an MBE in 2008.

Bildungsroman novel definition
A bildungsroman novel is one that follows a protagonists all-round self-development. More specifically it follows an individuals growth and development within the context of a defined social order. Additionally, to spur the protagonist on some form of loss or discontent must jar them at an early stage away from the family home or setting. The road to maturity is long where repeated conflict between the hero/heroine’s needs and desires and the views and judgements enforced by a rigid social order. Eventually the protagonist, whose values become more aligned with the social order is accepted by society and the novel ends with an assessment by the protagonist of their new place in that society.
Great Expectations fits this model of novel by charting Pip’s development from childhood to young adulthood. On the surface the novel could just be read as Pip’s recollections of his youth, however the experiences he relates have a direct impact on his development, his
‘expectations’ of his place in society and his realisation of what is actually important.

by
Magwitch
Compeyson
Pocket
Jaggers
Miss Havisham
Mrs Gargery/Molly
Pumblechook
Estella
Joe Gargery
Pip
Wemick
Biddy
Writer
Director
Designer
Lighting Designer
Composer
Musical Advisor
Sound Designer
Casting Director
Movement and Choreographer
Movement and Choreographer
Fight Director
Associate Director
Jude Akuwudike
Rob Compton
Giles Cooper
Russell Dixon
Lynn Farleigh
Pooja Ghai
Shiv Grewal
Simone James
Tony Jayawardena
Tariq Jordan
Darren Kuppan
Kiran Landa
Tanika Gupta
Nikolai Foster
Colin Richmond
Lee Curran
Nicki Wells
Nitin Sawhney
Sebastian Frost
Kay Magson
Zoobin Surty
Cressida Carré
Kate Waters
Nicola Samer

Pip is an orphan who lives with his sister ( Mrs Joe or Mrs Gargery ) and her husband ( Joe ).
The novel opens with Pip sitting in a cemetery looking at his parents’ tombstones. Pip is accosted by an escaped convict who orders him to bring him food and a file for his leg irons. Terrified, Pip complies but the convict is captured.
One day Pip is taken by his Uncle Pumblechook to play at Satis House, the home of the wealthy but unhinged dowager Miss Havisham . As a young woman she was jilted at the altar and never having recovered she wears an old wedding dress and all of the clocks in her house are stopped at the same time. Miss Havisham has a ward, Estella , who is beautiful, yet cold and cruel. Nevertheless, he falls in love with her and dreams of becoming a wealthy gentleman so that he might be worthy of her. He hopes that Miss
Havisham will help make him a gentleman and marry him to Estella . His hopes are disappointed when Miss Havisham decides to help him become a common labourer in his family’s business.
With Miss Havisham’s guidance, Pip is apprenticed to his kindly brother-in-law, Joe , who is the village blacksmith. Pip works in the forge unhappily, struggling to better his education with the help of the plain, kind Biddy and encountering Joe’s malicious day labourer, Orlick .
One night, after an altercation with Orlick , Pip’s sister, known as Mrs. Joe , is viciously attacked and becomes a mute invalid. From her signals, Pip suspects that Orlick was responsible for the attack.
One day a lawyer named Jaggers appears with strange news: a secret benefactor has given
Pip a large fortune, and Pip must come to London immediately to begin his education as a gentleman. Pip happily assumes that his previous hopes have come true—that Miss
Havisham is his secret benefactor and that the old woman intends for him to marry Estella .
In London, Pip befriends a young gentleman named Herbert Pocket . He expresses disdain for his former friends and loved ones, especially Joe , but he continues to pine after Estella .
He furthers his education by studying with the tutor Matthew Pocket , Herbert’s father.
Herbert himself helps Pip learn how to act like a gentleman. When Pip turns twenty-one and begins to receive an income from his fortune, he will secretly help Herbert buy his way into the business he has chosen for himself. But for now, Herbert and Pip lead a fairly undisciplined life in London, enjoying themselves and running up debts.
Orlick reappears in Pip’s life, employed as Miss Havisham’s porter, but is promptly fired by
Jaggers after Pip reveals Orlick’s unsavoury past. Mrs. Joe dies, and Pip goes home for the funeral, feeling tremendous grief and remorse.
Several years go by, until one night a familiar figure barges into Pip’s room—the convict,
Magwitch , who stuns Pip by announcing that he, not Miss Havisham , is the source of Pip’s fortune. He tells Pip that he was so moved by Pip’s boyhood kindness that he dedicated his life to making Pip a gentleman, and he made a fortune in Australia for that very purpose.
Pip is appalled, but he feels morally bound to help Magwitch escape London, as the convict

is pursued both by the police and by Compeyson , his former partner in crime. A complicated mystery begins to fall into place when Pip discovers that Compeyson was the man who abandoned Miss Havisham at the altar and that Estella is Magwitch’s daughter.
Miss Havisham raised Estella to break men’s hearts, as revenge for the pain her own broken heart caused her. Miss Havisham delighted in Estella’s ability to toy with Pip’s affections.
As the weeks pass, Pip sees the good in Magwitch and begins to care for him deeply.
Before Magwitch’s escape attempt, Estella marries an upper-class lout named Bentley
Drummle . Pip makes a visit to Satis House, where Miss Havisham begs his forgiveness for the way she has treated him in the past, and he forgives her. Later that day, when she bends over the fireplace, her clothing catches fire and she goes up in flames. She survives but becomes an invalid. In her final days, she will continue to repent for her misdeeds and to plead for Pip’s forgiveness.
When the time comes for Magwitch’s escape from London Pip is called to a shadowy meeting in the marshes, where he encounters the vengeful Orlick who attempts to kill Pip .
Herbert arrives just in time with a group of friends and saves Pip’s life. Pip and Herbert hurry back to help Magwitch’s escape. They try to sneak him down the river, but they are discovered by the police, who Compeyson tipped off. Magwitch and Compeyson fight in the river, and Compeyson is drowned. Magwitch is sentenced to death, and Pip loses his fortune. Magwitch feels that his sentence is God’s forgiveness and dies at peace.
Pip falls ill; Joe comes to London to care for him, and they are reconciled. Joe gives him the news from home: Orlick , after robbing Pumblechook , is now in jail; Miss Havisham has died and left most of her fortune to the Pockets ; Biddy has taught Joe how to read and write. After Joe leaves, Pip decides to rush home after him and marry Biddy , but when he arrives there he discovers that she and Joe have already married.
Pip decides to go abroad with Herbert to work in the mercantile trade. Returning many years later, he encounters Estella in the ruined garden at Satis House. Drummle , her husband, treated her badly, but he is now dead. Pip finds that Estella’s coldness and cruelty have been replaced by a sad kindness, and the two leave the garden hand in hand, Pip believing that they will never part again.

Great Expectations explores several themes including: ambition and self-improvement, social class, love and loyalty, virtue and good character, crime and the law. The universality of these themes are what makes Great Expectations still relevant to contemporary readers, yet they draw deeply on the social context of its time, rooting it in the Victorian era.
Ambition and Self-Improvement
The moral of Great Expectations is that loyalty and conscience are more important than social advancement, wealth and class. Pip learns this lesson through the course of the story. Pip’s desire to be a gentlemen, thus becoming a ‘better’ person allows the novel to explore the idea of ambition and self-improvement. Whenever Pip sees something better than he has, he wants it. There are three areas of self improvement that are explored: moral, social and educational.
Moral: Despite some of the poor choices that Pip makes in his desire to better himself Pip is a moral character. He feels badly when he acts immorally, which in turn propels him to be a better person in the future.
Social: In love with Estella, Pip desires to better himself in society to be in the same social class as her. When Pip achieves his goal of becoming a gentlemen his life is not as fulfilling as he expected.
Educational: This is linked to Pip’s social improvement. In order to become a gentleman and woo Estella Pip needs to be educated. He discovers however, that virtue and kindness are worth more than an education.
Social Class
Throughout Great Expectations , Dickens explores the class system of Victorian England, ranging from the most wretched criminals (Magwitch) to the poor (Joe and Biddy) to the middle class (Pumblechook) to the very rich (Miss Havisham). The theme of social class is central to the novel’s plot and to the ultimate moral theme of the book—Pip’s realisation that wealth and class are less important than affection, loyalty, and inner worth. Pip achieves this realisation when he is finally able to understand that, despite the esteem in which he holds Estella, one’s social status is in no way connected to one’s real character.
Drummle, for instance, is an upper-class lout, while Magwitch, a persecuted convict, has a deep inner worth.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember Great Expectations’ treatment of social class is that the class system it portrays is based on the post-Industrial Revolution model of
Victorian England. Dickens generally ignores the nobility in favour of characters whose fortunes have been earned through commerce. In this way he connects the theme of social class to the idea of work and self-advancement.

Love and Loyalty
Great Expectations examines the moral idea that love and loyalty underlie happiness and misery depending on how well placed that love and loyalty is. Pip’s unrequited love for
Estella, who only ever treats him badly, brings him only misery. Miss Havisham also deals with the consequences of her misplaced love in Compeyson and her misery is only compounded by her choosing not to acknowledge the loyalty of the Pockets. Conversely, the good and kind Joe marries the equally good Biddy and despite their age difference, they are happy. Additionally Great Expectations examines the ideas of different kinds of love such as familial (Joe and Pip), admiration and gratitude (Pip and Magwitch) and what a lack of love can do to a person, such as Mrs Joe’s treatment of Pip. Again, the theme of love and loyalty ties in with the overall moral theme of Great Expectations that virtue and goodness pay far bigger dividends than wealth and high social standing.
Crime and the Law
Dickens work consistently looks at the injustices of the law and the system governing
Victorian England and Great Expectations is no exception. The narrative starts with Pip meeting the ‘fearful’ criminal Magwitch who Pip fetches food and file for. We discover that despite Magwitch’s persecution and criminal history, he is far more noble than many of the other ‘law-abiding’ characters in the book. Dickens’ portrayal of Compeyson sharply compares the two. Compeyson, who destroys Miss Havisham psychologically, and is a far less ‘worthy’ character receives a lighter sentence as he looks like a gentleman.
Additionally, Dickens use of the character of Jaggers demonstrates how the legal system can be unjust. Jaggers continually washes his hands, as if he is trying to wash off the guilt of the criminals he protects. Dickens clearly illustrates that in Victorian England some criminals were good men trapped by an unfair system, that lawyers were more concerned in their own best interest as opposed to seeing through justice, that punishment was not meted out fairly and that prison was an inhumane place.

Dickens uses language to deftly and efficiently draw highly detailed pictures of his characters, settings and narrative. He does this both in his narrative style, and in his use of dialogue. Below are two examples of this at work.
Extract 1 – Dickens’ description of Mrs Joe (chapter 2)
My sister, Mrs Joe, with black hair and eyes, had such a prevailing redness of skin that I sometimes used to wonder whether it was possible she washed herself with a nutmeg-grater instead of soap. She was tall and bony, and almost always wore a coarse apron, fastened over her figure behind with two loops, and having a square impregnable bib in front, that was stuck full of pins and needles.
In two sentences Dickens is able to draw a clear character. What ostensibly is a description of her appearance actually gives the reader an insight into the personality of Mrs Joe. For example, ‘she washed herself with a nutmeg-grater instead of soap,’ illustrates a clear image for the reader but it also indicates the harshness and hardness of Mrs Joe’s character. The description of her apron, again to illustrate appearance, does much more as the description of the pins and needles denote her prickly personality and the ‘impregnable bib’ also hints at her own lack of children and maternal instinct.
Extract 2: Miss Havisham and Joe speaking of Pip (chapter 13)
‘You are the husband,’ repeated Miss Havisham, ‘of the sister of this boy?’
… ‘Which I meantersay, Pip,’ Joe now observed in a manner that was at once expressive of focible argumentation, strict confidence, and great politeness, ‘as I hup and married your sister, and I were at the time what you might call (if you was anyways inclined) a single man.’
‘Well!’ said Miss Havisham, ‘And you have reared the boy, with the intention of taking him for your apprentice; is that so, Mr Gargery?’
‘You know Pip,’ replied Joe, ‘as you and me were ever friends, and it were look’d for’ard to betwixt us, as being calc’lated to lead to larks. Not but what, Pip, if you had ever made objections to the business – such as its being open to black and sut, or such-like – not but what they would have been attended to, don’t you see?’
Dickens’ dialogue serves the dual purpose of moving the narrative forward as well as using it to give the reader a stronger understanding of the characters. In this extract the difference in the two characters is immediately apparent. The most notable being the use of accent for Joe, illustrating that he is not educated like Miss Havisham and showing the difference in their respective classes. Additionally, by looking at the sentence structure of
Miss Havisham and Joe, we can also see the difference in their characters. Miss Havisham speaks in sharp complex sentences. She is to the point. Joe, conversely, also speaks in complex sentences but rather than being to the point he prevaricates, rambling on nervously to Miss Havisham. The use of punctuation aids in this. Joe’s use of dashes and brackets, and over use of commas compared to the pared down punctuation of Miss
Havisham demonstrates this. Their tone of speaking is markedly different. Miss Havisham is imperious and Joe is deferential.

Pip: The main character and narrator of the novel, Pip is a man that all through his young life tries to better himself because he is ashamed of who he is, and where he came from. When fortune falls in his lap, Pip is forced to realise that money does not make you happy, and that it cannot buy what he wants most, Estella's love, and the love of those he respects most.
Joe : Pip's brother-in-law and father figure, Joe is the blacksmith with which Pip grew up. Though they are best friends and love each other, Joe represents all that Pip does not want out of his life, and so he pulls away from him as soon as fortune strikes. Pip later recognises that Joe’s goodness is worth more than money and they are reconciled.
Mrs. Joe : A tyrannical sister and mother figure, Mrs. Joe raised Pip from the time his parents died when he was a baby until her accident. Abusive and prone to "rampages" of her temper, she appeared in the beginning to be an almost uncaring but authoritative figure.
Uncle Pumblechook : Joe's uncle who introduces Pip to Miss Havisham. As a result of this, he looked at himself as Pip's real benefactor and when Pip came into wealth he wanted to use him for his own purposes.
Biddy : Soft and sweet, Biddy was always one of Pip's best friends. When they were little,
Biddy taught him all that she knew in school, and as they grew older she began to teach herself along with him. Biddy, like Joe, represents what is good and what Pip eventually aspires to. Pip wishes that he could love Biddy but never really does.
Miss Havisham : Unhinged and bitter, having been jilted at the altar she is a woman whose broken heart has become cruel and malicious. Her only tender emotions she reserves for her ward, Estella, who she raises to break men’s hearts. She takes delight in Estella’s cruel treatment of Pip.
Estella : Raised by Miss Havisham with a warped sense of reality Estella is cruel and cold.
Estella follows her own journey throughout the novel and comes to realise that her behaviour and choices have led her down an unhappy path.
Herbert : A young man with many dreams and aspirations, Herbert is kind and trustworthy.
Even though at their first meeting as boys Herbert wanted to fight Pip. When Pip comes into fortune, Herbert becomes his best friend and beloved confidant.
Matthew Pocket : Miss Havisham's cousin who is the only one in his family not after her fortune. Matthew is a kind and intelligent man who is a friend and teacher to Pip.
Mr. Jaggers : The universal lawyer, Mr. Jaggers is a hard man who shows very little emotion. He bases his life on reason and fact. He acts as Pip’s guardian from when he leaves home until he comes into his inheritance. Jaggers handles Pip’s fortune and advises him when necessary.

Wemick : A clerk for Mr. Jaggers, at work Wemick appears to have no feelings. When Pip visits him at home however he is an entirely different person to whom Pip will go to for advice or companionship. Wemick takes care of his hearing impaired father, and in the end marries a woman, Miss Skiffins. His tiny house is his castle, and everything he has of value is "portable property."
Abel Magwitch : A convict and Pip's benefactor, at different times in the story Magwitch is both villain and hero. After the loss of his daughter, Magwitch develops affection for the young boy who brings him food, brandy, and a file. Wanting the boy to be all he couldn't be, he devotes his life to making money and giving it to the boy to be a gentleman.
Magwitch risks his life so he can see Pip, but his vengefulness shines through when he sees or talks of Compeyson.
Bentley Drummle : Another student of Matthew Pocket’s, Drummle is a titled noble who is mistrustful and arrogant. Knowing that Pip has affection for her, Drummle courts Estella and taunts Pip with the knowledge. He later marries her but is an abusive husband.
Orlick : Another of the villainous characters in the story, his jealousy of Pip dements him. Angry with Mrs. Joe for some offense that she committed, Orlick attacks her and tries to kill her. He later tries to kill Pip also but is thwarted. His diabolical mind and stupid demeanor makes for a perfect combination of evil stupidity that makes people not suspect him for his crimes.

The Victorians
For much of the last century the term Victorian , which literally describes things and events in the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), conveyed connotations of "prudish,"
"repressed," and "old fashioned." Although such associations have some basis in fact, they do not adequately indicate the nature of this complex, paradoxical age that was a second
English Renaissance. Victorian England saw great expansion of wealth, power, and culture.
Poor Law
One of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation of the entire Nineteenth Century was the
1834 Poor Law Amendment Act which abolished systems of poor relief that had existed since the passing of the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 . The new legislation established workhouses throughout England and Wales. It was extended to Ireland in 1838. Legislation for Scotland did not appear until 1845.
Prior to the PLAA, poor relief took several forms based on the Elizabethan Poor Law of
1601: outdoor relief was one type of relief where people would be given a 'dole' of money and remain in their own homes. The aged, infirm and sick were looked after either in almshouses, hospitals, poor houses or in their own homes. Orphans were looked after in orphanages. However, by the 1830s, many poor houses were vile and insanitary establishments; the sick were not nursed, children were not educated and paupers could starve to death in them.
There was no single system of relief and no centralisation. However, all relief was based on the parish, the smallest unit of local government as well as the smallest ecclesiastical division. Some parishes were more generous than others in the amounts of relief they gave.
The advantage of a parish based system was that 'everyone knew everyone else' and it was in the interests of all that the poor were looked after. The disadvantage was that the poor rates were borne by the same people who paid all other types of rates and from the outbreak of the French Wars (1793), poor rates tended to increase.
Until around the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, poverty was accepted as a fact of life: at some point, most of the lower orders would suffer from poverty and would need help.
Crime
Due to poverty and under resourced policing, crime was rife in Victorian England. The following extract from The Victorian Web, outlines the types of crimes that were committed on an ongoing basis. The punishments for these crimes were usually severe, exportation to Australia and the death sentence among them. Additionally, people who found themselves in debt were sent to debtors prisons (Dickens’ father among them).
Leaving aside drunkenness, theft was rampant. While children might pickpocket and steal from barrows on the streets, women might engage in shoplifting, and, as for London's sly con men, cheats, "magsmen" or "sharpers," they were notorious. So were the

housebreakers working in teams, and slipping into homes and shops and warehouses.
Mugging, with its associated violence, was rife. A hanky dipped in chloroform might be used to subdue someone before robbing him, or a man's hat might be tipped over his face to facilitate the crime (this was called "bonneting"). Another ruse was to lure men down to the riverside by using prostitutes as decoys. The dupes would then be beaten up and robbed out of sight of passers-by. Violence could, of course, easily extend to murder.
Prostitutes themselves ran uge risks. No one knows how many of them were strangled or stabbed or butchered (Jack the Ripper was far from the only villain). No respectable woman would have ventured forth after dark at all, if she had any choice in the matter. The helpless were at special risk. Well-turned-out children might be waylaid, dragged down an alley, and stripped of their finery, or pet dogs kidnapped for ransom or simply filched for their skins. Around mid-century, and again in 1862, "garrotting" or half-strangling unwary pedestrians from behind while accomplices stripped them of their valuables, caused great waves of panic. There were big-time criminals as well as gangs of street hooligans. In a new version of highway robbery, for instance, bankers' consignments might be snatched in transit. There was also a surge in gun crime in the 1880s, and hardened burglars
"increasingly went armed".
Class
Class is a complex term, in use since the late eighteenth century, and employed in many different ways. Classes are the more or less distinct social groupings at any given historical period. Different social classes can be (and were by the classes themselves) distinguished by inequalities in such areas as power, authority, wealth, working and living conditions, life-styles, life-span, education, religion, and culture.
Early in the nineteenth century the labels "working classes" and "middle classes" were already coming into common usage. The old hereditary aristocracy, reinforced by the new gentry who owed their success to commerce, industry, and the professions, evolved into an
"upper class" which strongly maintained control over the political system, depriving not only the working classes but the middle classes of a voice in the political process. However, with the advent of the Corn Laws, the middle classes eventually were given the vote.
The working classes, however, remained shut out from the political process, and became increasingly hostile not only to the aristocracy but to the middle classes as well. As the
Industrial Revolution progressed there was further social separation.
This basic hierarchical structure comprising the "upper classes," the "middle classes," the
"Working Classes" and the impoverished "Under Class," remained relatively stable and a modified class structure clearly remains in existence today.
Reference: www.victorianweb.org

1. Tell us a bit about your character, Pip
Pip is a young inquisitive village boy from India, with a wild imagination. The play is set at the time of The Raj and he is asked to be a playmate for Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter. He falls in love with her and spends the rest of the play questioning his background and upbringing. You see the story through the eyes of Pip, who moves from his small village to the big city of Calcutta.
2. What have been the challenges playing this role?
As the play is seen through Pip’s eyes, he doesn’t really come off stage! The set changes around me whilst I am on stage, so having the stamina to play the role has been a challenge. Also Pip’s age ranges from 13 to 26 throughout the play, so I’ll go off stage and when I come back on it’s 5 years later!
3. What made you want to be in this play?
The challenges that presented themselves really made me interested in the play. The scope and emotional range of Pip is huge and I looked forward to the challenge of playing the different ages. There is also a cultural divide that I was interested in learning about.
4. Did you have to do a lot of research?
Yes quite a bit. I researched the time of the Raj quite thoroughly and looked at what life was like in India at that time. I find that pictures help me more than text, so I found as many pictures of India at that time as I could and tried to look at the physicality of the people in the pictures. You then just have to try it out in rehearsal! I try and trust that the writer has given you all the information you need in the script, it’s up to you to turn that into a believable character.
5. How are rehearsals going?
They’re going really well! We did a run of the first act yesterday, and we’re planning on running the whole show next week. I’m having an amazing time and enjoying every moment.
6. What made you want to be an actor?
I think the thing that made me want to be an actor was seeing Al Pacino’s Dog Day
Afternoon. I loved that it was a film that looked like a play and was set in real time. The energy just seemed to leap out of the screen and I was amazed at the effect it had on the audience. I like the idea of taking the audience on a journey to another world. It’s just like playing - in fact it’s like the adult version of playing Cowboy’s and Indian’s as a child!
7. How did you get into acting?
I started at school, and then once I left I realised that I wanted to be an actor. It’s been a long journey. I started by going to open auditions for 1 line parts! After that I managed to get an agent and eventually I got this part, my first lead in a play. I also went to drama school, but not straight away. It took me 3 years to get in!
8. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be an actor?
If you really want it then go for it! Don’t give up - it’s not easy but it’s worth it. There are a million ways to get to the end goal, start small and then aim higher. Don’t forget that it’s good to dream...

1. Could you describe your role in this production?
I design the set, costumes and props on the show. I work with stage management to create and source the props the actors use. I work with the costume department to help realise the costumes and with the builders, props makers and technical crew to help realise the set you see before you.
2. How long does it take to design a show?
It completely depends on the size of the show and the angle you are taking in your response to the text. But I’d say on average you can be thinking about a production up to
9 months before curtain up. It then takes on average 4/5 weeks to rehearse it, again depending on the size of the piece and the number of actors involved. We would normally have a week of technical rehearsals and previews and then press night. So quite a long time.
3. How did you get into this industry?
I was always interested as a child in theatre and it carried on from there. I never realised that you could even train as a theatre designer but once I found out I applied, and was accepted at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. I studied there for three years, gaining a first class BA Hons in theatre design, moved to London and tried to work my way into the theatre scene.
4. What was the first show you ever designed?
I did little bits and bobs at school and in a youth theatre I was involved in, but I was part of a team designing in theatre for a large scale puppetry project in college where we camped out in the grounds of a beautiful castle in Wales, just by the sea. Professionally I think the first real show I designed was an opera in Tuscany as part of the Batignano Opera
Festival. It was called ‘ L’opera Seria’ directed by Rupert Goold. We were all staying in an old monastery in Tuscany on top of a hill in baking hot summer, and we were aiming towards putting this opera on in the cloister in the middle of the building. It was one of the most wonderful experiences and a fantastic start to anyone’s career.
5. How have you worked with the director in developing your design concept?
It’s very much a team effort. We have worked many times before, so you know how each other works. You need to build up trust. It’s hard in this industry because our jobs are very lonely ones at the best of times, so to have people to share your fears and problems whilst designing is so great, and most of the time that is the director who you turn to. We start by discussing ideas, concepts that might work for how the piece is written and take it from there. I’ll go away and sketch, research, model up a prelim design and then from there we look to finalising the design and set about presenting it to technical teams both on the tour and at the theatre in Watford.

6. How much does budget affect your design?
Budget is a killer, especially these days and in this economic climate. The budgets get lower as purse strings get tighter for everyone, but the expectations get greater for the show as were all still keen to produce good work and maintain high standards and also get bums on seats. But it’s got very hard. So it’s a massive part of what you see. A lot of ideas get cut. It’s a game of compromise. But it’s the same the land over. It’s all part of the challenge, and sometimes produces a greater result.
7. How do you decide what materials to use?
For the set we decide this with the production manager and builders, and for the costumes these are decided with the costume supervisor.
8. How do you go about designing costume?
Research, and then draw up sketches for each character. These will change along the way and sometimes an actor’s physical shape dictates a lot of how the costume is interpreted from paper to body. Who owns what character often changes too throughout the rehearsal period so we need to be prepared for that. I then discuss at length with the costume supervisor what we perhaps hire/ buy/ make and they liaise with their crew as to how it is all realised. We have fittings with our actors and then the costumes are finished, and in a lot of cases broken down, to look old and dusty, dirty ,dyed etc….the process continues during the tech when things need to perhaps be altered to fit better, or for quick change purposes.
9. When does your role start/stop?
That’s a hard one to answer. It starts when you start reading the script and allowing yourself to think about it. It finishes officially after the press night.

The Venue Geographical location, audience facilities, auditorium levels, any
architectural/technical modifications
Plot Summary What is the play about?
OPC – Overall Was there any OPC in evidence? Your understanding of the OPC, methods
Production
Concept used to communicate the OPC, any relevant material found in the programme about the OPC, mood and atmosphere of the performance
ODC – Overall What was the perceived ODC? Were the OPC and ODC appropriate to
Design Concept each other?
Dramatic Shape Tension, climax, anti-climax, suspense, form of production, tempo, and rhythm of whole production
Spatial elements Actor/audience relationship, acting area, chosen stage form, audience sightlines
Stage Action Entrances and exits, groupings, spatial patterns, proxemics, definition of location, symbolic areas of the stage
Set (scenery) Realistic or non-realistic, use of flats, acting levels, screens/gauzes, units/ structures, other scenic materials, stage properties, furniture, fabrics, textures
Costume Relationship to OPC and ODC, period style and significance, fabric and
texture, colour, symbolism, appropriateness to action, hand props, mask,
make-up, quality and consistency of costuming, changes
Props
Lighting
Music and
Sound
Significance, period
Dramatic function, atmosphere and mood, colour, special effects, timing, intensity, technical competence, imaginative use
Dramatic function and means of creation, live sound effects, recorded sounds or music, atmosphere and mood, period and style
Special effects Pyrotechnics, smoke, multimedia images and live or recorded images
Stylisation Naturalism, partial realism, expressionism, symbolic etc.
Practitioners Evidence of the influence of other practitioners, artists, sculptors, filmmakers etc.

Casting Appropriateness, character demands, character relationships, doubling or casting combinations
Characterisation Vocal: language, accent, mannerisms, volume, pace, pitch, tone, rhythms, pause, silence. Physical: posture, movement, pace, rhythm, mannerisms, use of hand props, costume, stillness, mime, use of space
Audience Laughter, other vocal reactions, applause
Reaction
Introduction
Highlight the brief details of the production you saw: what, when, where, who (i.e. main cast, director, designer)
Overview
Give a brief account of your main impressions (e.g. how what you saw differed from your expectations)
Main points
A paragraph each, making sure that you include details from the production (production values) and that you analyse the effects of these details and that you evaluate them.
Focus on key moments in the production. Make links between aspects of the production wherever possible (eg how the visual aspects relate to the performances of the actors).
The number of paragraphs will vary, but four or five will probably be enough. Remember that you can also use diagrams with illustrations (make sure you annotate these).
Final summing-up
Keep this fairly brief and don’t just repeat previous information. You might, for example, focus on one key moment which (for you) summed up the whole approach to the production.
Key points
Most of your marks are from this section of your evaluation because it’s the longest and gives you most chance to fulfil the criteria. You may talk about key moments in the production, looking at the headings already given to you. Your choice of points will be decided by your own main impressions, and can include:
Play’s central relationship
Interpretation of main theme
The effect of the ways in which the visual elements combine
The acting style
Specific major choices by the director (cutting / recording text etc)
Actor/audience relations/hip (were you made to feel personally involved?)
Remember: What? How? Why? How well?

Why is the play called Great Expectations ? In what ways is this title relevant to Pip?
How has the designer used set and costumes to create the world of Great Expectations ?
Discuss the theme of right and wrong, good and evil in Great Expectations
How does Dickens use settings to reflect characters in Great Expectations ?
Write about two incidents in Great Expectations which displays the productions ability to create atmosphere.
Explore the development of Pip’s character in the opening scenes of Great Expectations .
How is he affected by his initial encounters with Magwitch, Miss Havisham and Estella?
How does the staging of Great Expectations reveal information about the characters?
How does the set design and lighting impact the narrative in Great Expectations ?
How are each of the characters in Great Expectations made both memorable and striking?
How is tension and fear created throughout Great Expectations ?
Consider the role and presentation of women and their influence on Pip in Great
Expectations
Discuss the themes of ambition and self-improvement in Great Expectations
Discuss how the audience is engaged in the opening scenes of Great Expectations

Great Directors At Work
The Empty Space
Twentieth Century Actor Training
University of California Press
Penguin
Routledge