REVIEW OF “FINGERSMITH” by Dorothy Velasco March 24, 2015 “Fingersmith,” the acclaimed Victorian crime novel by Sarah Waters, has been described as “Oliver Twist with a twist.” In the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s new stage adaptation, we see more twisting than Chubby Checker ever dreamed of. And I would never dream of giving away those twists, just in case you haven’t read the book, a page-turner of nearly 600 pages. If a play had pages, “Fingersmith” the play would also be a page-turner, faithful to the book but compressed. Although it runs three hours you won’t be bored. You’ll be too intrigued by the complicated conniving of petty thieves, and the despicable activities of the wealthy. You’ll meet two unusual young women whose lives are mysteriously intertwined. Sue is an orphan raised by the shrewd Mrs. Sucksby and trained as a fingersmith — a pickpocket. Maud is a rich young orphan living at her uncle’s gloomy country estate. She will inherit her dead mother’s fortune once she
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