Oliver! – triumphant revival with a 'flash of panache'

Matthew Bourne's 'exuberant' production of Lionel Bart's classic musical can consider itself a success

Simon Lipkin as Fagin in Matthew Bourne's revival of the musical Oliver!
'Part lost soul, part sad clown': Simon Lipkin 'wonderfully reimagines' the role of Fagin
(Image credit: Johan Persson)

The Cameron Mackintosh-backed revival of Lionel Bart's timeless musical is a "richly realised triumph", said Sarah Crompton in What's On Stage. The "magnificent" show, directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, and first seen in Chichester last summer, has touched down in London's West End – and, before opening night, had already extended its run into next year.

Bourne and his co-director Jean-Pierre van der Spuy effortlessly balance the darker elements of Charles Dickens' novel with "jaunty tunes and cockney knees-up dance numbers", said Marianka Swain in London Theatre.

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"The detail is meticulous," said Nick Curtis in London's The Standard. Bourne has crafted a "more intimate version" of the musical that "evokes the spirit of the 1960 premiere" while treating its more complex elements with "finesse and delicacy". His choreography is "tight and exuberant", and "my god, the music…" It's hard to think of a stronger "second-act opening hat-trick" than the "lewd, beery 'Oom-Pah-Pah', followed by the wrenching 'As Long As He Needs Me'" and then the "swelling evocation" of the waking city in "Who Will Buy?"

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Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.