Great Expectations

A remarkable twenty-two venues throughout Scotland will be treated to this Prime Productions tour, and treated is certainly the right word as the company is presenting a first-rate treatment of the Dickens classic.

Jo Clifford's adaptation may tell a pared-down version of the story, but Dickens devotees will appreciate the great respect with which the dialogue is treated in Ben Twist's production. Every word counts as the story's mystery is woven together and then gradually unravelled.

Roles and relationships are established in the first act, including Pip's friendship with Joe and his infatuation with Estella, then after the interval our hero moves to London to become a gentleman, leaving both behind. Scenes are played out at a break-neck speed on Monika Nisbet's simple but handsome set, and the seamless arrival of new characters belies many quick costume changes by five of the seven actors.

There's no shortage of humour in the portrayal of such memorable creations as eternal martyr Mrs Joe (Pauline Knowles) and etiquette coach Herbert Pocket (Paul Morrow), but the aspects that really linger in the mind are David Fennessy's atmospheric soundscape and visual clues hinting at the bigger picture. Compulsive hand-washing punctuates the dealings of lawyer Jaggers with his unsavoury clients, while Pip graduates from working with his hands to summoning servants by gently clapping them. Even when their characters are offstage the hands of actors frequently remain busy, providing incidental music, rustling paper and ominously sharpening knives.

Richard Conlon's empathetic Pip is the centre around which the action revolves, and through appearances in almost every scene he perfectly captures both in voice and physicality the transition from principled pauper to conflicted gentleman.