It is always a pleasure to see Linda Marlowe appearing on the Fringe. This year’s star vehicle is monologue written and directed by Di Sherlock.
Miss Marlowe inhabits one of Dickens’s saddest characters. Miss Havisham was jilted at the altar decades before she appears in Great Expectations. Ever since, she has lived in the past, bemoaning the loss of what should have been a happily married life.
Miss Havisham’s Expectations combines an opportunity for us to set eyes on and sympathise with this quaint character and some biographical details about her creator, referred to almost throughout as “Mr Dick”.
In addition to Miss H, Miss M also portrays her protégée, Estella, and also Pip who fell for the latter, much to his eventual distress. More questionably, Bill Sykes pays a visit from Oliver Twist to liven up proceedings.
As one has come to expect, Linda Marlowe provides a totally professional performance and brings her charge to life for an hour. One just wishes that the space had not been like an oven.