CONSIDERING the Octagon’s reputation for producing incredible Christmas shows, with last year’s version of A Christmas Carol just the latest in a long line of successes, you could forgive Josette Bushell-Mingo for perhaps being a little nervous.

But the director of this year’s production of Oliver Twist says the only nerves she feels are in living up to her own high standards.

And with hints being dropped about the “adventurous” new production, it looks like audiences for the show, which opens tomorrow, are in for a treat.

“We’ve taken parts of the musical Oliver! and parts of the original novel,” says Josette. “There’s the high farce aspect from the musical which is very funny, but we’re also seeing the world from a child’s eyes in a similar way to the Harry Potter stories or the film Coraline.”

Josette says their version of the story is “a bit scary” and focuses very much on the younger characters.

“We worked hard to keep the children’s presence strong — we played on the idea that the children were running the city, which was probably very true at the time,” she says.

While the musical was a fairly light-hearted version of the novel, Josette says they were determined to go back to Dickens’ darker original.

“What’s important is that Dickens was a satirist and he did use his position to comment on the awful laws which kept the poor down — the poorhouse and the workhouse,” she says. “They fed the children water and porridge three times a day. It would be called abuse if you did that now.”

In the “almost cinematic” version Josette and the cast have created she says you really see Oliver “change people’s lives”.

As an award-winning actress, Josette is in the perfect position to understand how to get the best out of her cast.

“What it allows me to do is put myself in the position of the actors — I can ask, what would I want?” she says.

And although not a traditional Christmas show, Josette believes that Oliver Twist will prove a new family favourite.

“It allows us to reflect on how lucky we are in the festive season to have our friends and families — even just our good health,” she says.

“The festive season is a time for families to get together and take time out to relax and recuperate.”

l Oliver Twist opens at the Octagon Theatre, Howell Croft South, Bolton, tomorrow. Tickets cost £8.50-£15.95. To book, visit octagonbolton.co.uk or ring 01204 520661.

kdibbits@theboltonnews.co.uk