THE DOMINION POST - Reviewed by EWEN COLEMAN 21st May 2012
It is not easy for one person to fill the Opera House stage and engage an audience as if on one-to-one with each. But in her one-woman show, Dickens' Women, Miriam Margolyes does this with consummate ease and with a passion that is infectious and totally absorbing.
Having had a lifelong love of the works of one of the greatest writers in English literature Charles Dickens, she has also researched his life thoroughly and so has an intimate knowledge of not only the works of Dickens but his life.
It is therefore more than appropriate that on this the 200th anniversary of Dickens' birth Margolyes is travelling the globe with her show, which she created in 1989, celebrating the life and works of Dickens - 70 venues over four continents from February to December this year shows the enthusiasm and dedication she has for showing off this great man of literature.
What comes across from Margolyes is not only an in-depth study of Dickens the man and how the public persona was not always what the real man was like, but how his life - and in particular his relationships with women - influenced many of his female characters.
This is Margolyes' forte; portraying many of these women from extracts of his books interspersed with Dickens' life story. She re-creates 23 characters and each is as individual as the next, her bright, open, expressive face showing as much of what was behind the lines as the lines themselves. And none of the dourness of Dickens' writing but humour, and loads of it, permeated her performance.
A scene from Oliver Twist with Ms Corney and Mr Bumble opens the show and establishes immediately Margolyes' ability to engage with an audience and hold their attention. This she maintains throughout the show to the last poignant reading from Bleak House, confident and effervescent, never missing a beat as she moves effortlessly from narrative to character interpretation, bringing to life Dickens' overblown, exaggerated characters. Margolyes opens up the works in such a way that makes them appear as readable as any modern novel.
Credit must also be given to John Martin who sits throughout the performance at a grand piano providing a wonderful musical opening and then musical interludes to great effect.
Friday night's audience were treated to something special, it was Margolyes' birthday and when she was presented with a bunch of flowers, everyone sang Happy Birthday to a remarkable lady who although just turned 72, still performs with energy and vigour.
- © Fairfax NZ News
Posted : 21st May 2012