This isn’t the sort of show I’d ordinarily go for these days. It’s a bit like those shows at the Edinburgh Fringe that take a fairly periphery character in a Shakespeare play and make their own play about that one character: invariably it will not be an improvement on the Bard. Well, Havisham isn’t really an improvement on Charles Dickens, but then it doesn’t try to be, instead spinning an equally innovative and imaginative narrative that has its own assertive style. Miss Havisham is indeed that lady who lives in a mansion who still wears her wedding dress every single day despite being jilted at the altar a long time ago. The basics of how and why she ended up in this state is clear from Great Expectations – which, for this show, has its benefits and drawbacks, in the sense that there’s an existing framework, but that same framework means creative licence can only go so far.
Probably the best thing about this production is that one need not have read Great Expectations at all, or be able to recall its salient points, in order to follow proceedings. Zero prior knowledge is assumed. It’s a remarkably detailed account, and yet one that never gets bogged down in those details. Delving into what was, by any standards, a horridly traumatic upbringing – neither the church nor the school she attended were havens from an unpleasant home life – Heather Alexander’s Miss Havisham narrates and recreates past events, flitting with ease (well, she makes it look easy) between the prepubescent Havisham and the ‘current’ one. What I found particularly frightening was that for a show set two hundred years ago, the figures of authority at home, school and church settings wouldn’t be out of place today. That’s quite an indictment of contemporary society.
A drawing of Medusa before she was cursed, drawn by a Havisham who didn’t know the Greek mythological story because she was never taught it, is roundly criticised by her class teacher, Miss Strutt. Of course, pupils can’t be expected to know everything – isn’t that why we call them pupils? No matter. Havisham is, in contemporary parlance, cancelled. But the use of the Medusa myth and how it links to her own story is subtly and cleverly done – both were, in essence, had crimes against the person committed to them, only to then be judged and punished grossly disproportionately.
I can’t help but draw a comparison between this play and the musical Wicked (yes, there’s a book series that preceded it and a motion picture which came after), which amongst other things tells the story of Elphaba before she became the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’. This engaging and thoughtful production has much to say about how women have been maligned and misunderstood, and still are.
Review by Chris Omaweng
“If you knew my story, your heart would break too. A cobwebbed tale of heartbreak.”
This is the story that Dickens left out…
1825. A young woman, newly liberated from the deep-rooted effects of an abusive childhood, arrives in London. She is full of hope and ready to embrace a fresh start. However, she soon finds herself as ‘the leading lady in drama she can’t comprehend.’ The gaslighting is subtle, the manipulation slick. Can Miss Havisham discern her fate? Or is she destined to relive the devastation of her trauma?
Written and performed by Heather Alexander
Director and Dramaturg: Dominique Gerrard
Emul8 Theatre presents
HAVISHAM
Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London SE4 2DH
11 to 15 March 2025
