David Copperfield
On the 28th of November 2008 I attended a performance of ‘David Copperfield’ written by Charles Dickens at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester. The play was adapted and directed by Giles Havergal, who for 33 years was artistic director of the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow. David Copperfield follows the life of a boy, who was orphaned at an early age and experiences considerable hardship. Throughout the story David experiences love and betrayal but I believe the main theme in the story is ambition.
Firstly I would like to comment on how well the actors identified their characters especially the actor who played David himself, although David is played by a fully grown man it is made obvious at the beginning that opposed to playing a fully grown man he is playing a child. This is displayed clearly very early on in the play when we saw David wailing like a child at the front of the stage, to emphasise the fact he was a child his facial expressions and movement where also very childish a good example of this is when he is talking to his Nanny Peggety he tugs on her skirt and looks up to her. The other actors on stage also treat him like a child and talk to him in a different tone than they would to someone closer to their own age. Another well played role was that of Uriah Heap. From the moment he took his place on stage (even before he started to speak) you could begin to recognise that he was villainous, one of the traits I found particularly effective was how he had his hands up by his chest for a considerable amount of time. He also appeared nervous. Charles Dickens himself describes the character of Uriah Heap as “probably the most consummate villain that has ever existed..."
