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Margolyes and Dickens: The Best Bits 5***** - One4Review

Margolyes and Dickens: The Best Bits 5*****

| On 12, Aug 2024

I believe Miriam Margolyes should be way up there in the national treasure department of British eccentrics-united-league (I just made that up). She really does know how to work a crowd and does so with utter authenticity and (insert word that rhymes with ‘ducking’) majesty.

Miriam brought along a plethora of hilarious anecdotes embellished with the flowery prose that we all so love to hear fall from her mouth. They spill over an auditorium of what sounded like a room full of giggling teenagers. Miriam has a very sophisticated party trick up the sleeves of her glittering caftan – the strength of her acting.

The show comprised two halves, one where she performs excerpts from Charles Dickens novels and the other a question and answer session made entirely from the audience’s questions.

I was eavesdropping on fellow audience members and it was great to hear them expressing their delight over Miriam’s acting and storytelling prowess. We watched her bring to life various characters from Charles Dickens novels, and I felt like I was being transported back in time to another world. Confession: I haven’t picked up a Charlie-D in well over two decades – the Margolyes-monologues have inspired me to read them again.

As she performed I was reminded of the overt gaps between rich and poor and that some things just haven’t improved at all. Miriam articulates it perfectly: the majesty of low lives. This resonated with me as a reminder that all people have a voice, a story, feelings and needs, no matter how distant one is from those ivory towers.

The Q&A session allowed the former posh school girl to tell us stories that both gave me ‘the boke’ and reduced me to tears of laughter. For example, you may know the story when Miriam had a fleeting liaison with a soldier, but you may not realise that said liaison occurred here on Scottish soil – The Meadows!

It was clear to me that Miriam takes great interest in people. The stories she tells create a show that is heart-warming, outrageously funny and inspirational. Miriam has only flourished in recent times and she is effin’ nailing it! Scots, don’t be fooled by her posh voice – you can blame her school for that. Her fa’ther was Glaswegian, and she can do a braw Scottish accent.

*****
Reviewed by Jen
Pleasance at EICC – Pentland
16.00 (1hr 10)
Until 15th

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