This past weekend, I went to see the theater production of “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas NIckleby”, and was pleasantly surprised to see that a novel written by Charles Dickens could actually be interesting.

Although, admittedly, I arrived late due to typical Northern Virginia traffic, I came to understand that the play began with the death of Nicholas’ father, leaving him, his mother, and his sister desperate for assistance, which they can only receive from their insufferable uncle, Ralph Nickleby.

While the story line was somewhat confusing, the very talented actors and actresses of the Saxon Stage gave amazing performances. Soon, my confusion was gladly replaced by laughter at the hilarious and animated characters that appeared before me.

Although I recognized many faces upon the stage, soon I completely forgot that they weren’t orphans submitted to a life of misery in the school of the terrifying Mr. Squeers, or an infant phenomenon in a quirky traveling thespian group (shout-out to freshman Bridget Fitzgerald for making my nonexistent abs hurt from laughter).

Upperclassmen such as Trevor Coar, Charlie Weir, Kathleen Welch, Sam Mayman, and Chris Paul all portrayed dominant roles with hilarity, passion, and it was clear that they had fully immersed themselves into their characters, to note just a few of the many brilliant performances in this year’s spring production.

Like the lovely Bridget Fitzgerald, these Saxon thespians breathed life into the characters of Charles Dickens. I’ve heard that the best actors act not for the director, not for the audience, and not even for the dreaded cappies; the greatest actors act for the story, and frankly, that’s an element I definitely witnessed last Saturday.