NEW YORK CITY—Most lives don’t follow a straight line from cradle to grave. It’s the journey one takes in between that can make it interesting. Case in point: Charles Dickens’s semi-autobiographical work, “David Copperfield.” This coming-of-age story was first published in book form in 1850, and, today, Guilford Shakespeare Company breathes new life into the tale with a delightful stage production at 59E59 Theaters, as part of the theater’s annual “Brits Off Broadway” series.
Adapted by Abigail Pickard Price, Sarah Gobran, and Matt Pinches, and featuring a cast of three, the story is told in flashback by the title character (Eddy Payne), as he looks back on his life. He sees that even the very start of his life seemed displeasing to some, with his horrified Aunt Betsey (Louise Beresford) leaving abruptly upon learning her nephew’s widowed wife gave birth to a boy.
