AS an avid fan of Charles Dickens I wasn’t too sure the sheer scope of Great Expectations would adapt well for the stage, given that his second novel poses many challenges in terms of characterisation and setting.

So, I was particularly keen to see what Malvern Theatres and Tilted Wig Productions would make of one of Dickens’ best-loved works at the Bath Theatre Royal with a cast of only nine actors.

With orphans, convicts, and jilted brides, savage attacks, anonymous benefactors and heroic rescues, this story is full of great imagery and brilliant and unforgettable characters such as Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch.

Dickens’s themes include prosperity and poverty, love and rejection, and the eventual triumph of good over evil, and director Sophie Boyce Couzens handles them all very capably.

For those who have never read the novel, the storyline follows Pip, an orphan brought up by his nasty sister and kind brother-in-law, who dreams of becoming a blacksmith.

But he doesn’t reckon on falling in love with the beautiful but cold Estella, nor being grabbed by the convict Magwitch in the graveyard, or meeting the formidable Miss Havisham still wearing the wedding gown in which she was jilted at the altar.

When Pip is told that he has been provided with money, from an anonymous benefactor, so that he can become a gentleman he leaves for London, but all does not go well and he rides a rollercoaster of experiences and emotions which lead to a strange and tragic end for some of the main characters.

This adaptation by Ken Bentley stars the Olivier award-winning Nichola McAuliffe as Miss Havisham, and she brings her usual iconic authority to the role.

Séan Aydon struggles to play the younger Pip, as indeed does Isla Carter as Estella, but as the play progresses and they age they slip more comfortably into their roles and their performances become much more polished after the interval.

The scenes where Daniel Goode plays the criminal Magwitch are stolen by him and his outstanding performance here tends to overshadow his portrayal of Bentley Drummle in comparison.

The concept behind the simplistic and versatile set and costumes is simple but effective and when they finally stop clambering over the framework in the second half you really start to see the play come alive and capture the true spirit of Dickens’ work.

At its heart is a story about love, friendship and hope and here Edward Ferrow’s Joe Gargery provides its emotional core; his scenes with Aydon are beautifully tender and underplayed.

They provide a stark contrast to the whirlwind of Pip’s relationships with the jilted bride, Miss Havisham and the cold and haughty Estella, his encounters with the escaped convict Magwitch, and his London friends.

Great Expectations is on until Saturday. June 9.

John Baker