‘Expectations’ Fulfills Expectations in Glendale

The text of Barbara Field’s dramatization of Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” looks bare-bones when set next to the novel. But as fleshed out by the wonderful actors at A Noise Within in Glendale, Field’s adaptation emerges as a model of crisp, expressive storytelling.

It’s a great story, of course. The tale of Pip’s odyssey from small-town lad to sophisticated gentleman has romance, excitement, humor, suspense and a warm-hearted embrace of humane values--plus a gallery of delicious characters.

Most of the actors play at least two people so they switch characterizations--and Kay Lynn Peebles’ evocative costumes--from scene to scene. They also take turns as narrator.

More than 50 scenes are connected by simple set changes that fly by while the narrator of the moment keeps the audience preoccupied. Despite lasting nearly three hours (including intermission), the performance never lags.

Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez Elliott cast one adult to play Pip as both boy and man, and Donald Sage Mackay is a worthy choice--just think of him as tall for his age during his early years as a ragamuffin. In these first scenes, his inquisitive eyes peer at the human parade without any sense of adult awareness. Later he’s just as convincing as he joins the parade and faces major moral crossroads.

Equally skilled at bridging the generation gap is Betsy Ferguson as the haughty heartbreaker Estella. Yet it’s Michael Manuel whose extraordinary versatility gets the most vigorous workout, as he ranges from kind-hearted Joe Gargery to pompous aristocrat Bentley Drummle to Wemmick’s doddering Aged Parent.

For that perfect Dickensian look, it’s a toss-up between Joel Swetow, whose jagged features define the attorney Jaggers, and Mitchell Edmonds, whose plump Pumblechook is as overbearing as his Wemmick is affable. But the most memorable image is Deborah Strang as the jilted Miss Havisham, still in her tattered gown.

With eyes made up for maximum chills, co-director Geoff Elliott is a formidable Magwitch--the convict whose discovery of Pip sets the tale off and running. Jill Hill’s Mrs. Joe is a bitter harridan, but then she switches gears completely to become the virtually silent and unsettling maid Molly. John Billingsley’s comic timing makes much out of Herbert Pocket--Pip’s Miss Manners--while Gail Shapiro makes Pip’s first tutor Biddy a remarkably gallant figure.

Kem Hauge’s music and Charlie Brissette’s sound bridge the many transitions and heighten the drama. Lighting designer James P. Taylor’s showmanship culminates in two especially bravura moments--the burning of Miss Havisham’s home and a climactic battle on the Thames. Thomas Buderwitz’s backdrop serves its many locales with impressive ingenuity.

* “Great Expectations,” A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m.; April 26, May 1, 2, 11, 23, 24, 8 p.m.; April 27, May 11, 18, 19, 26, 2 p.m.; May 5, 19, 26, 7 p.m. $18-$22. (818) 546-1924. Running time: 2 hours, 55 minutes.