Amateur production by the Harrogate Dramatic Society of Mark Evans' Victorian comedy that parodies Charles Dickens.
The Harrogate Dramatic Society are taking Bleak Expectations to the Harrogate Studio Theatre from Wednesday 30 June to Saturday 3 July 2027. It's a Victorian comedy written by Mark Evans and directed by Lizzie Thomas, staged by arrangement with Nick Hern Books.
The play follows the adventures of Pip Bin, a half-orphan, and his sisters Pippa and Poppy as they go up against the villainous Mr Gently Benevolent and the troublesome Hardthrasher siblings. It's a parody of Charles Dickens, pitting the author's world against outrageous British comedy, and it leans into absurdity, larger-than-life characters and over-the-top Victorian melodrama. The whole thing is an amateur production, put on by the Harrogate Dramatic Society.
The venue is the Harrogate Studio Theatre, an intimate 60-seat room on the third floor of Harrogate Theatre. It's the kind of space that programmes diverse, experimental and often brand-new work by emerging and mid-career artists. A reviewer for The Public Reviews described it as a space that 'can always be relied upon to present unique, thought provoking and memorable shows.'
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One practical thing to keep in mind: there's no wheelchair access to the Studio Theatre, with 44 steps over more than three flights of stairs to get up to the room. The run is four days, from Wednesday 30 June to Saturday 3 July, at Harrogate Studio Theatre on Oxford Street, HG1 1QF.
