Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Low Down
Miriam Margolyes enacts and reads characters from Charles Dickens in portrayals that are fruity, intense and salt of the earth. Margolyes relishes becoming every character, she is a natural storyteller and her stories peppered in between the monologues are interesting by themselves. The stage and audience is large but it seems like she is speaking directly to you. The second half of the show is a Q&A with Margolyes.
Review
In Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits performed by Miriam Margolyes and directed by Annabel Leventon, Margolyes tells us that Dickens is one of the best authors and that she has done all the characters! Her sense of humour is apparent as she greets us and introduces her seventy minute show. She is jovial, charming and welcoming as she sits down, picks up a book and launches into the first character she tells us about, or rather, enacts elegantly from her chair. This is Mrs Gamp from Martin Chuzzlewit Margolyes leans back in her chair, closes her eyes and snores a bit. At first, it’s a little disarming and unexpected but Margolyes is an actor and not merely a reader, so naturally she wants to bring these characters to life and to transport us to the world and times of Charles Dickens. Margolyes becomes the character and she is wonderfully visceral as she immerses us in the life of Mrs Gamp talking about her experience and the Poorhouse.
In between each character performance Margolyes regales us with fascinating anecdotes about Dickens, her point of view to his work, with specifics about several books to set up the next monologue. Margolyes shares her passion for Dickens and his beautifully drawn characters and personalities as a character study of humanity and their lives.
Speaking both characters in a scene with Paul Dombey and Mrs. Pipchin, Margolyes deftly performs the dialogue as both characters. At this time one of the several etched prints and drawings in black ink is projected on a large screen that provides atmosphere and another insight into these characters Margolyes is bringing to life in front of our eyes.
Other characters Margolyes enacts are Fagin meeting Oliver, where she masterfully adjusts her posture slightly and adds a tilt of her head, while doing voice shifts for both characters. These characters are opposites in age and personality, and Margolyes skilfully switches through a wide vocal range of inflections, brusque deep fast talking to higher pitch naïveté and moving through accents seamlessly. Her facial expressions match the characters and their emotions whether subtle or larger than life!
A highlight (among many) is a short scene of Miss Haversham and Pip, when Margolyes embodies both characters believably with flourishes of her mellifluous resonant voice and perfect timing! It has been said the Miriam Margolyes can play almost anyone and here is the evidence!
The full auditorium is rapt at this performance where a proverbial pin could drop and would not be heard. Margolyes also makes a point about Dickens and women, which is fascinating. One of her famous acting roles is Little Dorrit and we are fortunate that Margolyes includes an excerpt in the show. Her portrayals are fruity, intense and salt of the earth and Margolyes relishes every one. She is a natural storyteller and her stories peppered in between the monologues are interesting by themselves. The stage and audience is large but it seems like she is speaking directly to you.
The second half of the show is a Q&A with her and a mediator has collected audience questions. Margolyes is ready for any question and she answers them all with her customary witty honesty.
It is pure joy to watch Margolyes play a variety of characters so beautifully and tell her stories with humour and wit – and to see her genuine interest in Dickens. While absolutely entertaining and an exceptional performance, Margolyes leads us to a deeper understanding of the value of literature – and as a result some of us may be going off to bookshelves to find several of these novels!
