James Swanton

A tale of high melodrama featuring the story of the ill-fated Nancy and her brutal end at the hands of Bill Sikes in Dickens's masterpiece Oliver Twist.

Charles Dickens adapted 'Sikes and Nancy' from the grislier material in Oliver Twist. It became the most notorious of his legendary Public Readings; a masterpiece of high Gothic melodrama. Audiences were shocked into silence. Women would scream and faint. 'I shall tear myself to pieces,' Dickens vowed before one performance. He surely did - it is now thought that the strain of 'The Murder' hastened Dickens's early death.

"James Swanton is a fearless actor who in Sikes and Nancy pushes the art of physical expression into fantastical areas of theatre that are far too little explored. He is a remarkable performer and the show is a startling and enthralling contribution to the art of the theatre." - Simon Callow.