'Oliver!' review — it's well worth picking a pocket or two for this simply glorious musical revival

Read our review of Lionel Bart's Oliver!, directed by Matthew Bourne, now in performances at the Gielgud Theatre to 29 March 2026.

Consider yourself part of the West End furniture! Cameron Mackintosh and Matthew Bourne’s marvellous revival of Lionel Bart’s beloved Charles Dickens musical has already extended its run at the Gielgud Theatre, where it transferred from Chichester, and no wonder: this is a simply glorious Oliver!, and a must for family audiences (even if you’ve got to pick a pocket or two).

First seen in 1960, Bart’s musical can be something of a tonal challenge: steeped in the darkness of Dickens’ novel, yet simultaneously packed with jaunty tunes and cockney knees-up dance numbers. Bourne (who choreographs and co-directs with Jean-Pierre van der Spuy), manages that balancing act perfectly, giving us plenty of grime and grit alongside transporting pleasures.

His spry, stripped-back, fluent staging – a lovely match for the relatively compact Gielgud – benefits from Lez Brotherston’s constantly shape-shifting design, which makes excellent use of a central revolve and swooping bridges. One minute we’re plunged into the depths of the grim workhouse, where authority figures tower above the desolate orphans, the next we’re sprinting through the streets of London with Oliver, or discovering the strange treasure trove that is Fagin’s lair.

But the true star is Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs’s sublime lighting design, which brings quite literal light and shade to the production. It’s genuinely terrifying when the villainous Bill Sikes looms out of the darkness, his menacing shadow the first thing we see. Conversely, there’s a heart-stopping beauty and majesty to the city skyline illuminated by a flash of lighting during a storm, while the gold-hued warmth of Nancy’s pub is palpable.

All of this frames a cracking set of performances, from lead roles right through to notably strong supporting turns and an energetic chorus. I saw the achingly mournful Cian Eagle-Service as the tiny urchin Oliver, starved of affection as much as food. Watching him blossom among his strange new family of crooks, and later with the kindly Brownlow clan, brings a tear to the eye.

Hunger is also key to Shanay Holmes’s gutsy Nancy. She and Bill (a sinewy Aaron Sidwell) are ravenous for one another, making sense of a complex dynamic; there’s a desperate urgency to their coupling. “As Long as He Needs Me” feels wrenched from Holmes’s soul: fierce pride mixed with a longing for connection, purpose and love.

Among the wonderfully Dickensian eccentrics and grotesques, vivid characters all, are Oscar Conlon-Morrey’s preening (and often show-stealing) Mr Bumble, Katy Secombe as his eager paramour Widow Corney, and Stephen Matthews and Jamie Birkett’s creepily gothic Sowerberrys – another couple made in heaven, or perhaps hell. Billy Jenkins is an excellent Artful Dodger, with his cheeky-chappie swagger and dynamic moves, and Isabelle Methven is a sweetly gentle Bet.

Brilliantly leading this gang of reprobates is the magnificent Simon Lipkin, giving a tour-de-force performance as Fagin that takes the part back to its musical hall roots. He delivers not only Bart’s lines but a veritable feast of ad-libs, even turning his piercing gaze on the audience.

He’s a piratical dandy with dangling earrings and fluttering fingers, a big kid, a nimble clown, a flustered substitute teacher, even sometimes fatherly, but still dangerous. He weaves us through the journey of “Reviewing the Situation” with masterful panache, his speed of thought matching the song’s racing patter.

As you’d expect, the movement is a constant joy: always inventive, and firmly rooted in character. It makes these enduring earworms – “Food, Glorious Food”, “Consider Yourself”, “I’d Do Anything”, “Oom-Pah-Pah”, “Who Will Buy”, “It’s a Fine Life” – doubly entertaining. My review of the situation? It’s a triumph.

Oliver! is at the Gielgud Theatre to 29 March 2026. Book Oliver! tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Oliver! (Photos by Johan Persson)