This half term, Oxford Playhouse hosts the latest production from the Children’s Theatre Partnership and the Royal & Derngate, Northampton: a new musical based on Michael Rosen’s 2018 children’s book Unexpected Twist, itself an adaptation of Dickens’ Oliver Twist. As a fan of the 1968 musical, I was intrigued to find out how a new production would go about breathing life into a well-trodden tale, and, most importantly, whether new compositions could measure up to absolute bangers such as ‘Food, Glorious Food’ and ‘Consider Yourself’ from over 6 decades ago.

Dickens’ second novel is brought into contrast with the modern day through the eyes of Shona, a young girl who has had to grow up too fast in response to family tragedy and subsequent poverty. Moving to a new area after her father is evicted by their landlord, Shona starts at a new school, where her English class is studying Oliver Twist . As she tries to mask her poverty to fit in, and makes some questionable decisions to that end, she finds more and more parallels between her life and Oliver’s.

That there is anything left to compare between Twist’s life in Dickensian London and a schoolgirl in 2023 is in itself somewhat depressing, and I found myself more moved and challenged than I was expecting to be by a musical for kids. Ultimately, making themes of child exploitation, organised crime and domestic violence palatable to 8 year olds without talking down to them is an ambitious project in itself. It is therefore a testament to the talents of the entire production team that a balance was achieved between exploring serious issues and creating an enjoyable spectacle.

The blurred boundaries between the story and the story-within-the-story are cleverly highlighted in a number of ways. Almost all of the actors double and sometimes triple up into their Dickens characters and contemporary counterparts, so that it is sometimes unclear who is saying what. The effect of this is heightened by the versatile set design which keeps the setting quite consistent throughout, so that the sense of place is more reliant on the performers.

And what performers! The energetic ensemble cast perfectly capture the rowdy classroom environment, their bouncing banter never missing a beat. Although they were a great team and there were no weak links in the chain of the cast, a couple of the performances deserve particular mention. Drew Hylton’s Shona is extremely compelling, capturing the frustration, confusion, fear and yet wit and gumption that all pours forth from a teenager shouldering more responsibility than they should - combining these acting chops with an incredible singing voice makes Hylton an undeniable star. She was ably matched by a dynamic duo in Alexander Lobo Moreno’s deviously charming Tino and Dodger and Alex Hardie’s troubled yet brassy Gazz/ Charlie Bates. Their rap and beatboxing skills were seriously impressive, given the opportunity to shine with a roster of catchy compositions by songwriters Yay Bey and Conrad Murray. Some numbers from the astonishing soundtrack are still stuck in my head days later, and it is all the more a credit to the cast that the show’s music and audio effects were completely vocal.

Ironically for a show about poverty, this production is an embarrassment of riches - there were many gems within that I haven’t got the space to comment on here. I would therefore urge anyone reading not to miss it so that you can discover them for yourself.