DUT stages Oliver!
Durban University of Technology will showcase its musical Oliver! this March.
DUT starts the year with a musical flurry staging the iconic Lionel Bart evergreen, Oliver! based on the Charles Dickens classical novel, at the DUT Courtyard Theatre from 22 to 28 March.
Oliver! is a delicious feel-good tale of young Oliver Twist – and a host of colourful and eccentric characters. It is also a hugely significant social commentary looking at the miserable life of a vulnerable young orphan living in Victorian London – his time in a workhouse, being sold as an undertaker’s assistant and as part of a gang of young pickpockets – before being adopted by his benefactor Mr Brownlow. The Oliver! rags-to-riches formula has inspired countless similar stories – including the much-loved musical Annie.
Director Dr Pamela Tancsik has localised it to a contemporary Durban setting – reminding us that this iconic work of literature is as current and topical now as when it was written. Human trafficking, abuse against women and children, poverty, street children stealing wallets and cell-phones resonates with us today, as much as urchins lifting silk handkerchiefs and pocket-watches did in the 1800s.
Contact Lebohang Sibisi on 031 3732194 or lebohangs@dut.ac.za
