An evening of Charles Dickens may not sound like the most scintillating weekend activity for CHS students. The cast of “Great Expectations”, however, destroyed that assumption and showed, in a set of bewitching and sharp performances, that Dickens can be fun.

Students performed a stage adaptation of Dickens’s classic novel Oct. 15-18 in the CHS Black Box theater. While the production embodied wonderfully the poignant solemnity of Dickens’s work, the cast also added a liveliness that made Dickens’s austere, winding text more manageable for audiences.
The story of “Great Expectations”, as Dickens fans will know, is that of a young boy, Pip (sophomore Fergus Inder), and his transformation from the poor son of a blacksmith into a London gentleman with the help of an anonymous donor. Pip, eager to win the affections of the inexorably distant Estella (junior Ruthie Polinsky), gladly accepts the peculiar offer and assumes the money is from Estella’s wealthy guardian, the withered Miss Havisham (junior Sarah McAfee).
As Pip uncovers the secrets of his new wealth, though, he also reveals the dark and destructive sorrows that lie amongst the people in his life. Even in his disillusionment, Pip sees a rare form of humanity rise amongst even the most twisted characters.
The cast demonstrated a clear command of the text and a deep understanding of the characters. Inder carried the show confidently with charm and alacrity, and effectively bridged the otherwise dichotomous settings of London and Kent, England. McAfee’s colorful representation of both the bitter Miss Havisham and Pip’s mysteriously magnanimous donor was as disturbing as it was riveting; McAfee’s presence on the stage inevitably induced shivers all around. Polinsky was equally entrancing as the lovely but cruel Estella, managing to evoke sympathy even as she scorned Pip for his common upbringing.
While the principal actors carried the plot, supporting actors infused essential dimension and much-needed comic relief into the production. In particular, sophomore Emily Erblich played the character of Estella’s mother—a servant purported to have murdered her husband’s lover in jealousy—with an arresting sympathy. Junior Ian Miller brought a striking tenderness and depth to the character of Joe, the humble blacksmith. Junior John Holland and senior Ellen Spann effectively balanced out the occasionally overbearing events of the story with skillful comedic relief.

In addition to clear mastery of the characters, all actors in the cast delivered their lines with flawless British accents, and used accents appropriate to the social class of the character. This laudable feat, along with period costumes and a charming set, made the performance unusually realistic. As a whole, the performance demonstrated that CHS students are capable of transforming even the formidable text of Charles Dickens into an unequivocally captivating experience.