May 7 - 23 / A Professional Ensemble Production + Young Company

Theater Project's OLIVER TWIST Features Young and Old Together

When The Theater Project's Professional Ensemble takes the stage in May with their latest production of OLIVER TWIST, there will be some new - yet familiar - faces added to the mix.  For the first time in Theater Project history, The Professional Ensemble will share the stage in a full collaboration with teen actors from The Young Company.

Directed by Christopher Price, the play is an adaptation of the well-known Dicken's novel, set in 19th century London.  In it, young Oliver runs away from an orphanage and is taken by The Artful Dodger to Fagin's den, where he joins in a series of adventures with the ragtag street gang until he is befriended by a young benefactor.  

According to Price, “Although the novel’s scope is greatly reduced in playscript form, it’s still quite a challenge to produce due to multiple scenes with a relatively large cast made up of both adults and young people. The Theater Project is a good venue for this because of the availability of student actors from The Young Company and our company of professional adult actors.  Working with such a range in age and experience has been interesting and rewarding. It has forced me to articulate the craft more fundamentally and less conceptually than I would normally do with an exclusively professional cast. This is a good foe me and, I think, good for the kids to have the experience of working with seasoned actors.“

Featured professional actors include David Butler as Fagin, David Currier as Brownlow,  and Craig Ela as Bill Sykes .  Young Company actor and Mt. Ararat senior Emily Bowie has a difficult role as Nancy, the mistreated but loving wife of Bill Sykes.  "Working closely with professionals has taught me more about acting than any other acting experience," Bowie says. "I'm surrounded by adults to strive to teach me and still listen to what I have to say.  I think this is a learning experience for everyone involved, a positive one.  I love it."  Other featured young actors include Anna Palopoli as The Artful Dodger and Odie DeSmith as title character Oliver Twist.

The production is decidedly unlike the rather well-known musical Oliver!, but rather a grittier and perhaps more accurate take on the novel.  "Dickens wrote Oliver Twistas a social commentary on the appalling conditions of the poor and of children in early 19th century  England, " says Price.  "Work and poorhouses, the harsh treatment of orphans, child labor laws, and the gross economic disparity between the rich and the poor were favorite topics; sarcasm, caricature and black humor favorite weapons to illustrate them.  This makes for great reading and, I think, great characters to portray on stage."

OLIVER TWIST will run May 7 through May 23.  Performance times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm.  All tickets are Pay-What-You-Want, with a suggested price of $18, and are available online anytime.  Patrons may also call the box office at 729-8584, or visit 14 School Street in Brunswick.