Interview: Actor Dom Hodson on BLEAK EXPECTATIONS in the West End

Each week, a different guest star regales audiences with the hilarious misadventures of the young Pip Bin – tragic half orphan, hopeless romantic and would-be-hero – as Bleak Expectations plays in London’s West End. As we move into the final weeks, we were lucky enough to speak to Dom Hodson who plays Pip Bin in the show.

What can you tell us about the production?

Bleak Expectations is a very, very silly comedy play set in Victorian England. It (loosely!) follows the framework of Great Expectations with a few other Dickens references thrown in for good measure, but essentially it is just a madcap, wacky adventure. Pip loses his father (eaten by feral penguins), gets sent to nasty boarding school (St Bastards), makes his fortune by inventing the bin, and attempts to thwart his evil nemeses (the ironically named Gently Benevolent) at every turn. Think Monty Python meets Blackadder with a dash of The Play That Goes Wrong.

The production sees a different guest star appear each week. Who has been your favourite to work with so far? And who are you still most looking forward to working with?

That would be telling! They have all been hilarious in their own ways and thrown themselves into the production and the show is very different every week as a result. Every single one has made me corpse – we have a scene where Pip meets his ’older self’ (the celebrity guest) and I am usually unable to hold it together. Sue Perkins, Julian Clary, Stephen Mangan and Tom Allen stand out as particularly hard to keep a straight face with – but all have been wonderful - we’ve been very lucky. Regarding the next few weeks, obviously working with Stephen Fry will be a real privilege for us all, but I’ve long been a fan of Jack Dee and think his ‘curmudgeon-ly-ness’ will work really well for the character.

Have there been any onstage mishaps or funny stories that you can share with us during the run?

Every night is different! There is a lot of licence for ad libs and there are a couple of sections where we appeal directly to the audience for their input which keeps things fresh. It is one of those shows that benefits from mishaps as we are all there to have a fun time, so when – for example – the sourdough sword (yep…) doesn’t snap in two, or when the judge’s wig gets put on the wrong way round, it’s great for us and the audience.

You trained at the Royal Academy of Music and have appeared in an eclectic mix of musicals. Which one has been your favourite to appear in and why?

I was lucky enough to play Tony in West Side Story which has long been my favourite musical. Singing those songs with an incredible orchestra and watching the choreography every night was a real highlight.

What would be your dream role to play or dream production to appear in?

Massive Pay Cheque. The musical or play. I’m not fussy.

Bleak Expectations plays at London’s Criterion Theatre until 13 August, with tickets available here.