“I am under the influence of some tremendous attraction which o’ermasters me. I have no government of myself when you are near me or in my thoughts. You could draw me to fire, you could draw me to water, to any exposure or any disgrace; you could draw me to the gallows...to any death. I am fit for nothing. You are the ruin – the ruin – the ruin – of me!”

and...

“I’ll tell you what real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter – as I did.”

A Will may take many forms. It can stand for good order, the conveyance of property, of loving wishes and warm hopes for the future. Alternatively it is a powerful weapon for bad. For parting shots without hope of reconciliation, for control in life with the dangling promise that future reward will be yours, or for the dread codicil of inheritance in exchange for servitude – your will for theirs.

John Harmon’s father has made a fortune from dust, literally, and it has gone to his head. Losing all sense of his own good luck, he becomes covetous of every penny, lives his life as a misanthropic miser, estranged from past connections, and adapts his Will accordingly. His son may inherit, but on the condition that he returns from the life he has made for himself abroad and marries a mercenary young woman whom he has never met.

But John Harmon is drowned in the Thames before the ship on which he is travelling can dock, and his inheritance passes into the hands of the loveable but naive Boffins; triggering one of Dickens’ most magnificently satisfying plotlines of murder, mistaken identity, greed, envy, the sinister twists and turns that unrequited love can take and, above all, the incontestable importance of being true to oneself, no matter what you may stand to lose.

To honour Dickens' double centenary, we'll be touring 'Our Mutual Friend' to Rye, Thame and Essex in September/October and running it in rep on alternate nights at Barons Court Theatre, London, with last year's sell-out adaptation of 'Great Expectations' - the great man's masterly ode to youth, hope and the resilience of the human spirit. Please see our Dates and Tickets page to book.