For many the idea of a one-man show is a daunting proposition. Of course, I’m speaking from the actor’s point-of-view (though many an audience members feels the same way.) For David Mynne, the concept of turning Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, Great Expectations into a one-man show was a task worth trying. The results of his efforts will be on stage at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts starting on Thursday. The show runs through Sunday.
For Mynne, who along with Simon Harvey are co-adapters of the show (Andrew McPherson gets the adaptation credit), this was his first solo show. And it’s no small undertaking.
Great Expectations is a lengthy book telling the story of a young man named Pip and how his run-in with an escaped convict sets his life off in a direction far different that his initial thoughts. Along the way such memorable characters as Miss Havisham and her daughter Estella, John Wemmick and others help forge a lasting impression on the young man.
Somehow all approximately 544 pages of Dickens’ work has been coalesced into a 90-minute show.
As Pip says in the book, “You are in every line I have ever read.” I, for one, can’t wait to see Mynne tackle not just the characters, but the emotion that is at the core of this story.
