Barter brings 'Great Expectations' to the stage

Barter Theatre, located in Abingdon, Virginia, will present Charles Dickens classic “Great Expectation” adapted by Catherine Bush on the Gilliam Stage.

Running September 14 through November 9, “Great Expectations” follows the classic story of Pip as he is thrust from poverty into wealth. 

The classic comes to life as we see iconic characters like Miss Havisham, Estella, Magwitch, and Pip’s best friend, Biddy, during the trials and tribulations of life and love. 

“Dickens captured something that felt simultaneously so true to his time and place as it is to ours. He put his finger on something palpable about growing up: a special brew of ambition, yearning, heartache, excitement, and struggle that I feel around me here and now,” said Katy Brown, director of the Barter Theatre performance. 

“Pip’s journey has a deep resonance for all of us. He comes from a rural place; with dreams of becoming something else and sometimes feels guilty that he wants that. He struggles between love of where he comes from and trying to distance himself from it,” Brown said. “In this play, Pip talks directly to us, he confides in us about what it feels like to strive and sometimes fail, and what it is to finally discover what it means to reach out and love who you actually are.” 

Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased by calling 276-628-3991 or visiting BarterTheater.com.

Barter Theatre is the nation’s longest running professional theater, having opened in 1933 during the Great Depression. Founder Robert Porterfield offered patrons admission to the theater for bartered food and livestock. Barter Theatre was designated as the state theater of Virginia in 1946. It exists today as one of the last year-round professional resident repertory theaters remaining in the United States.