Dickens’s masterpiece Great Expectations visits the Bath Theatre Royal in June, starring Olivier Award-winning Nichola McAuliffe as the doomed bride Miss Havisham.

This new stage adaptation of the classic novel is peopled with some of Charles Dickens' most iconic characters, including Magwitch, the convict with a heart of gold, young Pip who yearns to escape his social class, the chilly beauty Estella, and Joe 'What larks' Gargery, the lovable blacksmith.

Peopled by some of Charles Dickens’s most colourful and memorable characters and painted in rich, vivid colour this new production promises a powerful and theatrical telling of Dickens’s universally loved masterpiece.

Running from Monday June 4 to Saturday June 9, this is the story of young orphan Pip, who has a terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard. He is given an unexpected chance to better himself after visiting the reclusive and mysterious Miss Havisham. Jilted at the altar, the wealthy spinster lives in perpetual darkness and still wears her wedding gown as she lingers in the decaying grandeur of her house. Pip falls in love with her ward, Estella and helped by an anonymous benefactor, he moves to the bustling city to pursue his dream of winning Estella’s heart and becoming part of the educated elite.

Great Expectations was first serialised between December 1860 and August 1861 in Charles Dickens’s weekly periodical All the Year Round. His penultimate, completed novel was then published in full in October 1861 to widespread acclaim. There have been numerous screen adaptations of this thrilling story, ranging from an early silent movie in 1917 to David Lean’s celebrated 1946 film starring John Mills and Alec Guinness and, more recently, Mike Newell’s 2012 version starring Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter.

Nichola McAuliffe makes a welcome return to Bath after performing in twelve previous productions at the Theatre Royal. Her television credits include the roles of surgeon Sheila Sabatini in seven series of the popular sitcom Surgical Spirit; the Duchess of Cumberland in the drama series Victoria; and Anita in Coronation Street. She also played guest roles in My Family, Holby City and Doctor Who. Her film credits include Stephen Frears’s Cheri with Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates, and Tomorrow Never Dies. Her extensive theatre credits include the lead role in Kiss Me Kate for the RSC, for which she won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

To book, call the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 or visit www.theatreroyal.org.uk.