Show: Oliver! SM: Charlie Gable
| What happens in the show? |
|---|
| Oliver! The Musical is a show based on the 1838 Charles Dickens book “Oliver Twist”. It follows the story of a young orphan who joins a group of child pickpockets, led by Fagin. |
| What are the main themes in the show? |
| • The story includes themes of poverty and social injustice, showing how the poor were treated in Victorian England, most prominently children and orphans. |
| • This social injustice is displayed in the contrast in the characters, for example, honesty and kindness is portrayed in characters such as Oliver and Mr Brownlow, where cruelty and crime is portrayed in Bill Sikes. |
| • The theme of family, acceptance and finding a home - Oliver spends most of the show looking for a safe place to call home. |
| • Many characters in the show are forced into crime because of poverty, showing how people can be shaped by their circumstances. |
| What are some important characters? |
| Oliver Twist - a kind and innocent orphan who wants to find a new home in a better life |
| Fagin - the leader of a gang of child pickpockets in London, teaches how to steal |
| The Artful Dodger - a confident pickpocket of Fagin’s gang, who introduces him to Oliver |
| Nancy - a member of Fagin’s group who risks her life to help Oliver escape |
| Bill Sikes - the main villain, forces Oliver back into the gang |
| Mr Brownlow - a kind man who takes Oliver in to give him a safe home |
| Mr Bumble - the strict and cruel owner of the workhouse where Oliver grew up |
| Scene | Page # | Time and Place | Action in scene | Themes in scene | Any key dialogue/environmental cues | Practical needs | Overall feeling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACT ONE | |||||||
| S1: The Dining Hall of a workhouse | pg1 | Workhouse, somewhere in the midlands, early evening, script states time period about 1850 | Oliver asks the workhouse owner for more food, who is taken aback | Poverty and social injustice | Oliver asks for more food - pg4 “Please sir, I want some more” | Music - Food Glorious Food, Oliver | Oliver is courageous and fearless |
| S2: Workhouse: The Parlour | pg8 | The Widow’s Parlour, later | Corney grows disgust towards Bumble, Bumble attempts to sell off Oliver | Class inequality and social injustice, slave trading | Music - I Shall Scream, Boy For Sale | Corney is disgusted of Bumble | |
| S3: The Undertaker’s | pg12 | Inside the Undertaker’s Parlour | Bumble sells Oliver to a shop owner, Sowerberry | Survival, new home seems more caring and welcoming | Music - That’s Your Funeral, Where is Love | Optimistic | |
| S4: The Undertaker’s | pg20 | Inside the Undertaker’s, next morning | Oliver meets Noah, who makes fun of his mother so Oliver gets locked in a coffin, Oliver escapes | Bullying and cruelty, class inequality | Coffin closing, Oliver escapes pg25 “It’s a lie!” | Oliver escape tracks | Uncomfortable, Oliver feels trapped |
| S5: Paddington Green | pg26 | Outskirts of London, a week later | Oliver meets the Artful Dodger who invites him to join Fagin’s gang | Friendship, belonging | Music - Consider Yourself | Exciting and hopeful | |
| S6: The Thieves’ Kitchen | pg34 | The Thieves’ Kitchen, later | Oliver meets Fagin, Fagin checks in on what his gang has stolen that day. Fagin sets a deal with Bill who requests money, Oliver is introduced to Nancy | Crime, manipulation, survival in poverty | pg43 Fagin notices Oliver is watching him “AAGH!” | Music - You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket or Two, Rum Tum Tum, It’s A Fine Life, I’d Do Anything, Be Back Soon | Suspicious and playful |
| S7: The Street | pg58 | A London street | Mr Brownlow is stolen from by Dodger and Charley, Oliver is innocently caught, a chase ensues through the streets until Oliver is struck down | Crime, innocence | Brownlow “Stop that boy, my pocket’s been picked” - chaos sequence ensues |
Mr Brownlow accuses Oliver, snap blackout/curtain pg58 “That’s the boy!” | Chase and chaos tracls | Tense and unfair | | ACT TWO | | | | | | | | | S1: The Three Cripples | pg59 | The “Three Cripples” - a pub in Clerkenwell, the following evening | Dodger tells Fagin about Oliver’s catching, Nancy is threatened by Bill Sikes to bring him back | Class inequality | pg61 ‘three loud bangs’ | Music - Oom Pah Pah, My Name, As Long As He Needs Me | Neutral | | S2: The Brownlows’ | pg68 | Brownlow’s house, bedroom, stairs, morning room and street outside | Oliver leaves Brownlow’s to deliver books, while doing so Nancy and Bill Sikes find him and bring him back to Fagin | Kindness, hope | | Music - Where Is Love Reprise, Who Will Buy | Calmer, Oliver feels safe | | S3: The Thieves’ Kitchen | pg80 | Thieves’ Kitchen | Oliver returns to Fagin’s den, Sikes wants the money but Nancy stands between him and Oliver | Crime, friendship, greed | | Music - It’s A Fine Life Reprise, Reviewing The Situation | Dark and threatening | | S4: The Workhouse | pg88 | Widow Corney’s Parlour | Old Sally tells Corney of a locket Oliver stole, Bumble and Corney decide to retrieve him | Crime, social injustice | pg91 - Sally dies | Music - Oliver Reprise | Intriguing | | S5: The Brownlows’ | pg93 | The Brownlow’s Drawing Room | Bumble and Corney approach Brownlow, Nancy appears and tells them to meet at London Bridge to find Oliver | Social injustice, class inequality | | Music - As Long As He Needs Me Reprise | Setting up the big finale | | S6: London Bridge | pg99 | London Bridge at night | Nancy takes Oliver to the Bridge, Sikes appears and kills Nancy, he goes to Fagin’s den who tells the boys to run away, Sikes gets shot off the bridge and dies | Crime, thievery | pg100 - “Close your damn eyes” Nancy dies
pg103 - Lightning strike - Sikes falls | Lightning strike on gunshot, gunshot sfx, pyro flash | Final tension |
| # | Scene Name | Page # | Songs |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACT ONE | 1 | ||
| 1 | The Workhouse - Dining Hall | 1 | 1 - Prologue |
| 2 - Food, Glorious Food (Oliver and Boys) | |||
| 3 - Incidental Music into “Oliver!” (Mr Bumble) | |||
| 4 - Oliver! (Mr Bumble, Widow Corney, Boys) | |||
| 5 - Scurry Music | |||
| 2 | The Workhouse Parlour | 8 | **6 - I Shall Scream! (Mr Bumble, Widow Corney, Boys) |
| 7 - Boy For Sale (Mr Bumble)** | |||
| 3 | The Undertaker’s Parlour | 12 | 8 - That’s Your Funeral (Mr Sowberry, Mrs Sowberry, Mr Bumble) |
| 9 - Coffin Music | |||
| 10 - Where Is Love? (Oliver) | |||
| 4 | The Undertaker’s (Next Morning) | 20 | 11 - Next Morning |
| 12 - The Fight | |||
| 13 - Oliver’s Escape | |||
| 5 | Paddington Green | 26 | **14 - Consider Yourself (Part One) (Dodger, Oliver and Company) |
| 15 - Consider Yourself (Part Two) (Company) | |||
| 16 - Consider Yourself (Part Three) (Company)** | |||
| 17 - Consider Yourself (Reprise) (Company) | |||
| 6 | The Thieves’ Kitchen | 34 | **18 - You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two (Fagin and Boys) |
| 19 - Rum-Tum-Tum (Fagin)** | |||
| 20 - Intermezzo - Part 1 (Fagin) | |||
| 21 - Intermezzo - Part 2 | |||
| **22 - It’s A Fine Life (Nancy, Bet, Boys) | |||
| 23 - I’d Do Anything (Nancy, Dodger, Oliver, Bet, Fagin and Boys) | |||
| 24 - Be Back Soon (Fagin and Boys)** | |||
| 7 | The Street | 58 | 25 - The Robbery |
| 26 - Chaos | |||
| 27 - Chase (Finale Act 1) | |||
| ACT TWO | 59 | ||
| 1 | The “Three Cripples” | 59 | **28 - Oom-Pah-Pah (Nancy and Company) |
| 29 - My Name (Bill Sikes)** | |||
| 30 - Underscore After “My Name” | |||
| 31 - As Long As He Needs Me (Nancy) | |||
| 32 - Transition to “Where Is Love? (Reprise)” | |||
| 2 | The Brownlows’ | 68 | **33 - Where Is Love? (Reprise) (Mrs Bedwin) |
| 34 - Who Will Buy? (Part One) (Oliver and Company)** | |||
| 35 - Portrait Music | |||
| **36 - Who Will Buy? (Part Two) (Company) | |||
| 37 - Who Will Buy? (Part Three) (Oliver and Company)** | |||
| 38 - Recapture | |||
| 3 | The Thieves’ Kitchen | 80 | **39 - It’s A Fine Life (Reprise) (Nancy, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Dodger) |
| 40 - Reviewing The Situation (Fagin)** | |||
| 4 | The Workhouse | 88 | 41 - Back To The Workhouse |
| 42 - Old Sally | |||
| 43 - Oliver! (Reprise) (Mr Bumble, Widow Corney) | |||
| 5 | The Brownlows’ | 93 | 44 - The Locket |
| 45 - As Long As He Needs Me (Reprise) (Nancy) | |||
| 6 | London Bridge | 99 | 46 - London Bridge / Reviewing The Situation (Reprise) (Fagin) |
| Fin | London Bridge | 105 | 47 - Bows (Part 1) (Company) |
| 49 - Bows (Part 3) (Company) | |||
| 50 - Playout |