This is one of those rare Fringe treats – the chance to watch one of the world’s greatest actresses sharing the words of her favourite author.
Margolyes, who sweeps onto the stage in a multicoloured jewelled gown, has a long standing love affair with Dickens, which began when she first opened Oliver Twist at the age of eleven.
In a series of readings, introduced with glimpses into Dickens life, she brings us a parade of his greatest characters – from Mrs Gamp to Miss Haversham, from Fagin to Ebenezer Scrooge.
Margolyes’ chocolate caramel voice can be a thing of beauty – but it can also twist into the grotesque, the coquettish and the sly. For a woman of 83 she is simply extraordinary – delivering great segments of text with barely a nod to her notes.
For the second half of the show Margolyes answers questions from the audience – allowing a sort of live replay of her most scandalous interviews with Graham Norton.
She repeats a revolting story about an encounter with a flasher on the Meadows and spills the beans about the time the Queen told her to ‘be quiet’. One woman on the front row is so overcome with emotion she rises from her seat and flashes her breasts at the stage. “They are nicer than mine,” says Miriam, quick as a flash.
Margolyes is a flamboyant figure but also a huge talent and it’s an utter delight to see her exercise her gifts in the heart of a festival she loves so much. She says she’s become ‘rather keen on money’ because of the expectation that she or her partner might need to hire carers. This, she has said, might be her last appearance at the Fringe.
I doubt it somehow. But you never know. So how lovely to have the opportunity to celebrate so much vitality, intelligence and artistry.
Margolyes and Dickens: The Best Bits, Pleasance @ EICC, 16.00, until August 15
https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/margolyes-dickens-best-bits
