Last Updated on February 1, 2025
Tide runs low in Dickens adaptation
The Lyttelton Theatre on London’s Southbank is the perfect venue for the newly opened London Tide. Walking to the theatre along the Thames sets the scene for the drama that is to unfold where a body is pulled from the river on a stormy night. Adapted by Ben Power (The Lehman Trilogy), London Tide is based on Dicken’s last novel, Our Mutual Friend (1864-1865), considered by some to be his most socially conscious tale. As it runs to some 800 pages, it is no surprise that London Tide is a three hour long production. Directed by Ian Rickson (Translations), the play has songs by renowned singer-songwriter, PJ Harvey, who collaborated with Ben Powers on the lyrics.
Our Mutual Friend has a complex plot with murders, hidden identity, betrayal, manipulation, and an obsession with money. The adaptation does not extend to including all 19 major characters and 18 minor ones in the book. The cast is limited to a mere 21 actors but retains the plot twisting and complexity so typical of Dickens. Running at three hours in length, this production felt rather leaden. It was perhaps trying to achieve too much – to tell the wide-ranging story that Dickens wrote plus provide a homage to London and the Thames. While there were some lighter moments, the script lacked Dickensian wit and veered into sentimentality and rather trite dialogue. ‘The city is a sewer but it’s where we belong’ is one such example. That said, there were also some laugh-aloud lines about politicians, the purpose of schooling and some social commentary relating to class.
A play with songs rather than a musical, the 13 songs are, according to an interview with PJ Harvey in the programme notes, written as soliloquies. I was not convinced that the songs added much to the production which rather fell between two stools – a PJ Harvey concert and a play. The lyrics were not strong on the whole while the quality of the singing was insufficient. At one point, John (Tom Mothersdale), around whose identity much of the plot revolves, is on the verge of suicide. His song soliloquy fails to capture the agony that a man in that position would be facing. He sings ‘Here is the place where I die/ why? why? why?’. The chorus responds ‘Without love there is no answer’. Perhaps the songs were intended to add to the gloom of the atmosphere which felt rather too ever-present. Harvey says that some of the songs are London’s soliloquies – with London being a protagonist – and this felt like a diversion rather than an addition. Not that there is not much to say about the moods, tides, power and fascination of the Thames but it distracted from the telling of the story which has enough complexity and twists and turns.
One of the loveliest performances was that of Ellie-May Sheridan making her professional theatre debut as Jenny Wren, a poverty-stricken child with an alcoholic father, wise beyond her years. She was given some of the most amusing lines of the production which she delivered with great comic timing. She raised the audience in a cheer when towards the end of the play she is utterly fed up with women forgiving men – of which there is a lot.
Other performances that stood out were Peter Wright as an affable and generous and very entertaining Noddy Boffin (what a great name Dickens gave him), Crystal Condie as the feisty publican, Miss Potterson, and Stephen Kennedy as Reg Wilfer, the most supportive and loving father and understanding husband to the perpetually hand-wringing Mary Wilfer (Penny Layden).
Lighting (Jack Knowles) was the high point of this production, not only capturing the watery hues of the Thames in blues, greens, greys and browns but also evoking the movement of the tides. The light rigs were packed with spotlights and moved repeatedly up and down, undulating like the water. The set (Bunny Christie) was sparse with some very effective use of plastic to represent the river and the costumes, despite a lovely mint green dress, were mostly greys and browns which became rather dreary over three hours.
Another production with songs is currently on at The National. NYE has lyrics that are engaging and well-performed. NYE is also deeply relevant to our times. We have to ponder on what Dickens – one of the greatest social commentators of his times- would have made of London in 2024, not to mention the state of the sewage-choked Thames. This rather dull production left me wanting more.
London Tide runs at Lyttelton Theatre until 22 June 2024.
National Theatre, Southbank, London SE1 9PX
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