HOW TO ENJOY ‘NICHOLAS’

Adapter David Edgar likens the experience of watching 8 1/2 hours of “Nicholas Nickleby” to settling down with a good book on the Trans-Siberian railway. Here are some practical tips for the traveler:

1--Dress comfortably. A sensible person would not wear a three-button suit on the Trans-Siberian railway. Wear something loose and take off your shoes.

2--Move around when you feel the need. Part I has an intermission and Part II has two. Go out on the Music Center plaza and get some air. If you feel like taking a walk at other times, do so. This is not a normal theater event and the formalities of Western theater etiquette don’t really fit it. It should be akin to an all-day Kabuki performance, with people moving in and out of the house at will, and eating allowed in the auditorium. We aren’t sophisticated enough for that, but a certain relaxation ought to be felt in the auditorium. “Nicholas” is supposed to be a celebration, not an ordeal.

3--Make friends with your neighbors: You’ll be with them all day. The RSC actors give the cue here in the way they chat with members of the audience before the show. The idea, again, is a shared experience.

4--Don’t follow every scene as if an exam were to follow. Here those who have read the book, or who saw “Nicholas” on TV, have an advantage, for they know that some parts of the story aren’t as important as other parts.

Nicholas’ adventures at Squeers’ “school” for boys (read: asylum) are important. You will want to keep track of his gentle sister Kate as she fends off the despicable Sir Mulberry Hawke. You will want to understand enough of their Uncle Ralph’s machinations to appreciate his dreadful end.

Nicholas’ adventures on the boards with the Vincent Crummles Theatrical Troupe, culminating in a most unusual production of “Romeo and Juliet” are--if not important--irresistible. You will want to keep an eye on the pathetic Smike, who dies and yet does not die.

On the other hand, you don’t need to be too anxious about the Mantalinis (who give Kate her first job), or the Kenwigs (an excessively numerous clan) or the United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and Punctual Delivery Company. All these connect with the main thrust of the story, but not too tightly.

Another hint: The welter of information at the top of Part I can be confusing. The precis at the top of Part II frames the story more clearly: “There once lived in Devonshire a mother, and a daughter, and a son, who, recently bereaved, were forced to journey up to London and to throw themselves upon the mercy of their only living relative, Ralph Nickleby. . . .”

5--Remember, “Nicholas” isn’t a play, but a dramatized novel. A vast pudding of a novel, to quote Henry James. As when reading a book on the Trans-Siberian railway, the traveler is permitted to lift her eyes from the book and gaze out the window. Enjoy it at your own pace.