ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

members of the workhouse and Fagin’s gang was great. In contrast, Darren Cooper’s Bill Sykes dripped malevolence from his first entrance. Sinister and intimidating, Darren’s performance suitably instilled fear into the audience and cast alike – accompanied by the absolutely scene-stealing Bull Terrier Spencer – who even had his own makeup to make him properly ‘Bullseye’! The most perfectly sinister Bill – with his makeup (by Joanne Smith) adding to the effect perfectly. Keeping in in the family, Imogen Cooper performed confidently as Nancy’s sidekick Bet and Kim Cooper’s scene as Mrs Sowerberry was perfectly comically timed to contrast with the bizarre situation which young Oliver finds himself in, under the charge of the undertakers. Ewan Henderson’s drunken Mr Sowerberry added similar comedy to this scene and their shared duet of ‘That’s Your Funeral’ was well put over.

Nancy was performed beautifully by Emily Hobson, who had the perfect level of both brashness and sincerity of the character torn between what is right and wrong for her – and what she knows is morally right and wrong. ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ for me was the stand-out moment of the show. Often this is just sung and belted, a’la Shirley Bassey, but Emily’s performance built and built confidently without ever being

‘too much’ and I was left with goose bumps following the number’s key change. Her murder, which we all know is coming, was still a shock as she’d created a character loved by both all on stage and all in the audience. Well done, Em, it was incredible performance. Other supporting characters, all confident in their roles, came from Helen Provart as Mrs Bedwin, Isabel Fletcher-Shaw as Charlotte Sowerberry, Melissa Steele as Old Sally, Paul Foster as Mr Brownlow and Angela Hulme and Gary Ward as Widow Corney and Mr Bumble respectively. Their scenes together had the audience laughing along, quite possibly at Gary’s fat-suit and his movement in it around the stage!