Review: Three-person show brings Charles Dickens' classic to life

Mr Micawber, Peggotty, Little Em'ly...the characters of David Copperfield are among the most vivid in fiction. And here they are, large as life (though sometimes puppet or broomstick-sized) in a rollicking take on Dickens' tale. 

The play is performed by just three actors but this breach from a large-cast production honours the wit of the original story - and creates opportunities for some highly inventive theatre. 

Beginning with his birth ("I recall that I was born"), David immediately disappoints his formidable aunt Betsey Trotwood by not being born a girl. 

"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anyone else, these pages must show."

And shown we are, in style. 

David lives happily with his widowed mother and kind servant Peggotty. One change to his domestic idyll is a trip to Great Yarmouth, where he meets Peggotty's nearest and dearest, including her brother and the sweet Little Em'ly. 

But he returns to find forbidding stepfather Mr Murdstone - created by a top hat and coat perched on a broom handle - is now installed leading to banishment to school then counting house work for our young hero, meeting swaggering Steerforth and grandiloquent Mr Micawber along the way. 

A desperate David throws himself on the mercy of his long-lost aunt and, despite his failure to be female, she adopts him, sending him to school in Canterbury where he meets with Miss Betsey's lawyer, kindly Mr Wickfield, his lovely daughter Agnes and the unnervingly 'umble Uriah Heep. 

There is a lot of plot, more Mr Micawber, another relocation and another young woman for David to admire - namely child-wife Dora. 

Eddy Payne plays David Copperfield very likably while Luke Barton and Louise Beresford (with nine roles each) switch character and sex at the drop of a hat - and without the drop of a hat. 

There is a lovely bit of business in the second act with hat and role changes involving all three actors and I-don't-know-how-many-characters. 

The simple set includes cases, trunks, and sticks of furniture to become schoolrooms, bouncing carriages or stormy seas. The dinner scene at the Spenlow's table with a puppet proctor and roll of cloth 'table' was just one of many ingenious bits of staging. 

The Guildford Shakespeare Company production is meticulously directed by Abigail Pickard Price, who also wrote the script (with Sarah Gobran & Matt Pinches). The compelling music and sound score is by Matt Eaton. 

Packed with humour, pathos and fun, the show brings Dickens' classic to life with heroic charm.

David Copperfield is showing at Theatre Royal Windsor until Saturday, January 24.