Great Expectations

A gritty adaptation of Dickens' least sentimental love story with a cast of some of his most unforgettable characters.

Whilst at his parents' graveside, Pip is accosted by Magwitch, a convict escaped from one of the prison ships. Terrified, he is forced to help the man to get away. An unexpected invitation to the house of rich old Miss Havisham forces him into the path of her beautiful, cruel niece Estella and their strange, ruthless games. After an anonymous benefactor grants him a small fortune, Pip turns his back on his humble life as a blacksmith's apprentice – he moves to London to become a gentleman in the hopes of winning Estella. But he has no idea of the dangers that await him there, or from where his salvation will come.

This adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, by Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan, was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in 2005.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic who is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. His major works include: The Pickwick Papers (1836), Oliver Twist (1837–9), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–9), A Christmas Carol (1843), Martin Chuzzlewit (1843–4), David Copperfield (1849–50), Bleak House (1852–3), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1855–7), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860–1), Our Mutual Friend (1864–5) and the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870), as well as other novels, books and short stories. None of his major works has ever gone out of print. Declan Donnellan is an internationally acclaimed theatre director, co-founder and joint Artistic Director of Cheek by Jowl, and author of The Actor and the Target (Nick Hern Books, 2002) and The Actor and the Space (Nick Hern Books, 2024). Born of Irish parents, Donnellan grew up in London, and formed Cheek by Jowl with his partner Nick Ormerod in 1981. A focus on the actor's art has always been central to the company's work. Cheek by Jowl now performs in several languages with companies of actors in Spain, Italy, France, Russia, Romania and Bulgaria. Donnellan's work has been seen across the Globe including his iconic As You Like It, Ubu Roi and Boris Godunov. As Associate Director of the National Theatre, his productions included Fuenteovejuna, Sweeney Todd and the British premiere of both parts of Angels in America. He has staged work for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Bouffes Du Nord and the Avignon Festival. Opera includes Falstaff at the Salzburg Festival and ballet, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet for the Bolshoi. With Nick Ormerod he co-directed the feature film of Bel Ami. His first book, The Actor and the Target, was first published in Russia in 2002 – before being published in Britain and the United States, and translated into fourteen foreign languages. The Actor and the Space followed in 2024. He has been invited to teach and give workshops in many countries, and has received awards in Moscow, Paris, London and New York. He is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2016 for his work on the art of acting was given the Golden Lion of Venice. (Author photo by Cristi Floriganță)   Nick Ormerod is a British theatre designer and joint Artistic Director of Cheek by Jowl, alongside theatre director and author Declan Donnellan. In addition to his Cheek by Jowl productions, Ormerod has made theatre, opera and ballet with companies across the world. He studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge before studying for a Bachelor of Arts in theatre design at the Wimbledon School of Art. In 2005, he co-wrote an adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations for the Royal Shakespeare Company.