After the huge success of the Albany Theatre’s productions of A Christmas Carol over the last couple of years, it’s been a noble as well as bold decision by artistic director Kevin Shaw to take on a new challenge this time around. And bold in more ways than one, because as much as adapting another Dickens’ classic might feel like safe territory, Oliver Twist is a far darker tale with scant connection to the festive season.

Shaw’s version attempts to overcome the latter via a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it conceit that sees former members of Fagin’s pickpocketing gang reunited as adults on Christmas Eve to recall their childhood escapades, but bar some occasional narration – also a feature of the book – they’re instantly dispatched and we’re launched headlong into those very events.

Launched and headlong is right, because the lively production is a rocket-paced crash, bang (woof) immersive experience that doesn’t have time to wait if you can’t keep up (much like those pickpockets who didn’t make the grade), the seven-strong cast barely pausing for breath during their frantic two hours on stage.

Condensing Dickens’ 500+ page novel into such a palatable timeframe is no mean feat, but the greater achievement of this production is the brilliance with which the actors switch between roles throughout, hitting marks and darting around Dan Tilley’s dynamic set while providing some moments of genuinely high drama. There’s no weak link among the high-quality ensemble, but Paige Round and Paul Nolan are notable standouts, providing the show’s most dramatic speeches as the conflicted Nancy and conspiring Fagin respectively – the latter involving a lengthy monologue that was arguably the show’s highpoint.

The multitasking, multitalented cast can all hold a tune too, throwing in a few carols to remind us it’s Christmas, but in truth the production is more murky than merry, fierce rather than festive, and despite an uplifting ending not exactly a cheery night out for all the family. I’d also caution parents of younger kids (it’s aimed at over eights) that the pace will be too much for some (the 14-year-old accompanying me loved it, a much younger child a few seats down looked lost) and as much as the show avoids getting too graphic, it retains much of the darkness of Dickens’ original. Oliver is treated horribly mercilessly, Bill Sikes’ manhandling and (spoiler alert) murder of Nancy is gruesome and violent, and the evildoers’ hangings suitably grim.

That said, this is a daring, ambitious production that succeeds on nearly every level and bodes well for the Albany’s exciting future. Alongside the development of new spaces and facilities for local artists and communities, its stated intention is to expand the amount of original work commissioned and performed on its stages. If it’s of this quality, we will all want some more.

4 stars

Reviewed by Steve Adams at the Albany Theatre on Thursday 14 December. Oliver Twist continues to show at the theatre until 31 December.