Bleak Expectations - Harrogate Theatre

A riotous Victorian comedy packed with outrageous adventures, dastardly villains, unlikely heroes and wonderfully improbably twists.

We follow the unfortunate Pip Bin, whose life begins in poverty and misery before taking an unexpected turn when he encounters a cast of eccentric characters and discovers that happiness may, at last, be within his reach. Unfortunately, the villainous Mr Gently Benevolent is determined to thwart Pip at every turn.

With the help of loyal friends, romantic entanglements and more that a little good fortune, Pip battles through a series of increasingly ridiculous misadventures. Along the way there are mistaken identities, fiendish schemes, dramatic revelations, romance, revenge and plenty of comic calamity.

With its affectionate parody of the great Victorian melodramas and the novels of Charles, Dickens, Bleak Expectation is a fast-paced celebration of theatrical storytelling, packed with wordplay, absurdity and larger-than-life characters. It is a gloriously silly tale in which, despite the odds, good must surely triumph over evil - and everyone hopes for the happy ending they deserve.

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Nick Hern Books.