PICKWICK is a musical based on The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens and is set in England in 1828. The story centres on the wealthy Samuel Pickwick and his valet Sam Weller, who are in a debtors' prison where they recall the misadventures that led to their imprisonment including an encounter with the wily Mr Jingle.

This is a traditional musical that catches the cheerful and goodhearted spirit of the gentleman in question and the famous "If I Ruled The World" is just one of a host of strong numbers which gave the dedicated chorus plenty to go at.

As Pickwick, Philip Morris gave a spirited performance in the lead role assisted by Ian Barlow as Sam. Kathy Turton gave a memorable performance as Mrs Bardwell so much so that you couldn’t keep your eye off her when she was on stage. However the star of the show for me was David Wilson with his version of Mr Jingle. He reminded me of a young Terry Thomas even down to his moustache. A splendid comic performance so much so that you couldn’t wait for him to get back on stage.

The costumes and the set were good which is only to be expected from the talented team at Walmsley. The well-loved story, the tuneful music and witty lyrics provided a recipe which didn’t fail to delight last night’s audiences. This production by Walmsley is just what the doctor ordered on an autumnal evening with the festive season knocking on its door.

Jason Crompton

Having read the book Pickwick years ago, I was interested to see how Walmsley would bring the story to life on stage. I am glad that I read the synopsis of the show, there wasn't much of a story but the music was extremely good and under the baton of Mike Pinder it bounced along at a cracking rate. Some of these numbers were very wordy and must have caused many a headache to learn.

The set was simple but very effective and the costumes were in keeping with the period.

Philip Morris gave a good solid characterisation of Pickwick. Ian Barlow was excellent as "gentleman's gentleman" Sam Weller. One of the stars of the show was David Wilson who was great as Alfred Jingle, the wily womaniser. His scenes with Vicki, his real-life wife, who was brilliant as the maiden aunt Rachel, were hilarious. Finding out that although she was not very attractive, she was nevertheless an heiress, he immediately set about wooing her. These were lovely scenes. Kathy Turton was well cast as Mrs Bardell with a lovely voice and excellent stage presence.

The rest of the cast were very impressive in the small parts. The chorus singing was as usual excellent. I am always impressed with the harmonies from this society.

Jackie Kay