Eva-Jane Willis and Bill Champion in Moll Flanders at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Picture: Scott Rylander
Moll Flanders continues at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester until 13 October 2018.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Based on the 1722 novel The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, I fittingly watched this production of Moll Flanders (adapted by Nick Perry) in Colchester where parts of the story are set, including where the titular character herself (Eva-Jane Willis) grew up.
It tells the tale of how Defoe (Bill Champion), struggling to make ends meet after the success of his first novel Robinson Crusoe, comes across Flanders while visiting Newgate Prison.
Money-driven Flanders is ‘Twelve Years a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her brother) Twelve Years a Thief, Eight Years a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv’d Honest and died a Penitent’.
Upon hearing of her dramatic life and desperately looking for inspiration for his next novel, Defoe becomes enchanted with Flanders’ stories. When he convinces her to share more (and pays for her ‘services’), the performance really gets going as Flanders takes Defoe on a journey of the highs and lows of her life with the story unfolding before the audience.
There is an excellent use of music (musical director is Paul Herbert) to assist with the narrative. Modern songs such as ‘Sail’, ‘Fever’ and ‘We Are Family’ are given a clever twist and help the audience engage with this centuries-old story. Combined with an impressive array of period-appropriate costumes and dynamic staging, the audience members really feel as if they are travelling through Moll Flanders’ life with her.
This is a comical take, directed by Ryan McBryde with plenty of humour and audience interaction but is quick to switch to more emotional scenes when necessary. A hugely energetic and fun production, an impressively small cast is excellent in its telling of this large-scale story.
Fionnuala McKenna
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