Stage play by Jeremy Brock
Adapted from Charles Dickens’s novel
Directed by Julian Harrison

Dickens’s tale of poverty and pickpocketing, privilege and prosperity is brought to the stage in a splendid theatrical version combining all the richness of the original story.
The sinister antics of Fagin, the wonderful comic pomposity of Mr Bumble the beadle, and the horror of Nancy’s murder at the hands of Sykes. Be intrigued at the colourful characters.

Oliver meets from his past, and watch secrets unravel. Expect laughter and tears and some surprises. Jeremy Brock has created a play which adds further enjoyment to the world Dickens created for us in his books.

Stage play by Jeremy Brock
Adapted from Charles Dickens’s novel
Directed by Julian Harrison

Dickens’s tale of poverty and pickpocketing, privilege and prosperity is brought to the stage in a splendid theatrical version combining all the richness of the original story.
The sinister antics of Fagin, the wonderful comic pomposity of Mr Bumble the beadle, and the horror of Nancy’s murder at the hands of Sykes. Be intrigued at the colourful characters.

Oliver meets from his past, and watch secrets unravel. Expect laughter and tears and some surprises. Jeremy Brock has created a play which adds further enjoyment to the world Dickens created for us in his books.

Director

Julian Harrison has directed numerous productions around Auckland and been involved in theatre for over 30 years. In 2015, he directed the production of Looking, at Dolphin Theatre, which was a great success. 

Other productions in 2015 include Hay Fever for Company Theatre and Seven Year Twitch at Howick Little Theatre. When not directing shows Julian is usually on the stage himself or working in the performing arts field as a speech and drama teacher.

Riley is involved in Speech & Drama.  He won the most promising performer under 8 at the Rotorua Performing Arts Competitions this year and took away nine trophies, including the highest aggregate mark for a character recital 8 and under 15 years.  Riley is sitting his first Trinity Exam this year.

Arriving from the UK in 2010, Ian had been living in Marlborough, appearing in Repertory and Musical Theatre. Following a move to Auckland last year, he was cast in his first Dolphin show earlier this year A Perfect Nonsense. He is now thrilled to be back playing such an iconic literary figure.

Ranveer is a 13 year old boy who is passionate about acting. He started acting when he was ten years old through a SKY TV advert. He has worked with Youth Theatreworks, Auckland Theatre Company and a Ponsonby Intermediate School production. He is pursuing theatre acting as well as screen acting.

Ezra is fifteen years old. He has grown up mostly home schooled, but for Years Nine to Ten he was in a small school. He started getting drama lessons at the age of eleven and now he is doing Grade Eight speech and drama. This is his third production.

Molly is 14 years old and is a Year 9 student at Baradene College.  Molly enjoys both singing and drama and this year has performed in the Youth Theatrework's production of Les Miserables and in the St Peter's College production of Miss Saigon. Molly is very excited to be part of Oliver and thanks the production team for this opportunity.

Matt first appeared on stage at the age of four in Hunua’s Twas the Night Before Christmas. For the past 3 years, Matt has been part of Hawkins Youth Theatre, performing in The Cohort Hotel (2014) and How the Kiwi Lost its Wings (2015). He is excited to be in his first adult production of Oliver Twist.

Yasmine first appeared Mulan in Hong Kong playing the lead role. She then moved to Australia where she was a part of High School Musical 2 and Camp Rock 2 as well as the production of Into The Woods. She is also auditioning for her school’s production of Sugar in October.

Jessie is 13 and attends Remuera Intermediate. At school she is active with the Starburst Performers, Ballroom Dancing Troupe and the RI Singers.  Jess has featured in various school productions at RI and previously at Cornwall Park School, and studies drama performance at ‘One Hunger’ Performing Arts.

Gordon has been a Dolphin Theatre member for nearly 20 years after retiring from flying, first with the RAF and then with Air New Zealand. Since then he has played a variety of roles about every two years, ranging from policeman to American Ambassador. He is enjoying being back.

Courtney has been acting from a young age and has recently been involved with numerous theatre productions around the greater Auckland area. Her latest success was in a profit share performance of Lost Girls at Te Pou. She is thrilled to be Nancy in her first Dolphin Theatre appearance.

David is delighted to be once more on the stage at the Dolphin bringing to life his favourite villain for the third time. He hopes that the audience gets pleasure from the show. He would like to thank his wife Jody for her patience and understanding as she again becomes a theatre widow.

Charlotte Leigh has loved acting since she was very little. Prior to Oliver Twist, Charlotte lived in the USA for two years and performed in her school's musicals Cinderella and Hello Dolly, and the play The Odd Couple. She now attends Botany Downs Secondary College, and is in Year 11.

David has worked mainly in NZ's professional theatres since joining Children’s Art Theatre in 1969. He has directed 120 shows and performed in over 150. Earlier this year he played the Narrator and a 12 year old boy in Julian's production of End of the Golden Weather for the Ellerslie Theatre Society.

Ezekiel, a professional actor in Australia and New Zealand, is a permanent member of TMUTT (the mind u theatre troupe) and Circability Trust. He is relishing being in his first Dickens play. Previous credits include Lysistrata, The Rover, Emma,  School for Scandal and contemporary playwrights Ben Elisha, David Williamson and Sam Shepard.

June is very excited to be playing several roles which she hopes will be memorable. Last seen at the Dolphin as Nora Batty in Last of the Summer Wine last year and as Helena Rubenstein in That Woman the year before, winning the Best Actor award for that year.

This is Josh's first appearance at Dolphin Theatre. He recently played Bert in Arthur Miller's All My Sons at Company Theatre. He has also done theatre performances for performance.net and school productions. He is passionate about theatre and screen acting, and has starred in Power Rangers on Nickelodeon.

Catherine is thrilled to be playing several character roles in this production of Oliver Twist. She is sure the audience will be delighted by the Dickensian world which has been created for them. This will be Catherine's 5th play with Dolphin Theatre.

Oliver Twist is Arthur’s second production at Dolphin Theatre having been in Wife After Death previously.  He is looking forward to bringing Dickens to life with a talented cast of actors.

Clive is pleased to finally tread the boards at Dolphin after many visits to watch shows here. This is Clive’s fourth show this year having performed as Colonel  Von–Stromm in ALLO’ALLO’ at Papakura Theatre, Twins ‘Henry and Bernard Potterton in Flying Feathers at Hunua Theatre and Errounius at Spotlight Theatre.

This is Danielle’s first production after taking a five year hiatus from theatre to become a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. Danielle has been involved in drama and theatre from an early age and is excited to get back on the stage.

Laurene started speech & drama at an early age and was active both on stage and on screen. After forging a career in property, marriage and two sons, Laurene has returned to the stage; most recently playing the part of Sue Bayliss in an Arthur Miller production of All My Sons. 

After being the secret cast member (seated in the audience) for the successful One Man, Two Guvnors earlier in the year, Carleen is thrilled to make it into the programme this time round! She has also performed at The Dolphin in That Woman in 2014.

Emma has been treading the boards since childhood and first appeared at Dolphin last year in Looking. She is delighted that for the first time, she gets to share the stage, and her passion for theatre, with her son Matt.

An English Midwife for 20 years, I live in Onehunga with my husband and two daughters, working in the colourful community of Mt Roskill. Medieval culture fascinates me and I am, unashamedly, a Doctor Who geek. Last on stage aged 18, I am thrilled to be involved in Oliver Twist.

It’s Charles Dickens’s fault that Jan is back onstage after 15 years of directing and producing. She can’t resist his delightfully eccentric characters, and is therefore grasping this excuse to push the limits! She also wanted to play Mrs Corney opposite David, and to be in a play directed by Julian Harrison.