Greenwich Theatre's adaptation of Dickens' story of revolution, revenge and self-sacrifice is an ambitious affair. Director and adaptor Matthew Francis has sought to preserve the scope of the novel, including street scenes in London and scenes of revolution in Paris as well as most of  Dickens' labyrinthine plot. The play opens with Doctor Manette's rescue after 18 years of incarceration and moves swiftly back in time to explain the circumstances of his imprisonment and then forward to his reunion with his daughter Lucie, his life in London and Lucie's marriage to Darnay. Julian Forsyth makes a dignified Manette, Bernard Lloyd as Mr Lorry and Susan Porrett as Miss Pross are wonderful comic characters while Eleanor Tremain copes well with the sickly sweet part of Lucie.

However the action moves at such a rate that it is difficult to get any feel for the characters. Francis has reproduced the structure of the novel in a long build-up to the action but he simply does not have the time to include the necessary detail. By the end of the first half, the French Revolution has not yet started and still a lot of the plot has had to be related in narrative. Sydney Carton, arguably the focal point of the story remains a peripheral figure until the very end of the play though Timothy Walker's sensitive performance manages to convey much of his character in his brief appearances. Francis has many ingenious ideas and with the aid of Julian McGowan's set gives a real feel of the range of the novel but at the expense of the play. The result is a beautifully staged, well acted but confusingly episodic production.