“An ambitious sequel that ultimately twists itself into confusion”
Very few sequels manage to outshine or even match the impact of the original—Twisted! is not the exception. Much like Love Never Dies, this continuation of Oliver! attempts to recapture the emotional weight and narrative magic of Dickens’ world, but ultimately delivers a production more confused than compelling.
Set fifteen years after the death of Nancy, Twisted! picks up with Oliver Brownlow (Guglielmo Maria d’Avino) now a young man navigating the injustices of Victorian London. Though the premise hints at timely themes of systemic inequality and violence, the show stumbles in both structure and execution.
From the outset, it’s clear that the audience is expected to arrive with a working knowledge of the original characters and plotlines. Unfortunately, the world-building here is sparse and often clunky, relying heavily on exposition that tells rather than shows. New characters are introduced with little development, while returning ones feel more like echoes of their former selves than meaningful continuations.
The direction offers little help—odd choices abound, including fake violin miming, background ensemble members awkwardly loitering onstage, and ill-fitting theatrical devices that break the show’s internal logic. (A particularly bewildering moment came during “The Ripper’s Dance,” which featured backup dancers with black wings—an out-of-nowhere surreal flourish in a production otherwise grounded in realism.)
Character motivations are shallow at best, and the plot meanders with a number of scenes and songs that serve little narrative purpose. The show’s structure is especially weak, lacking momentum or satisfying payoff. When Jane (Maria Karelina) is shot, only to return moments later for the finale in bridal white, the dramatic stakes collapsed entirely.
Musically, Twisted! offers an ambitious original score that blends contemporary styles with traditional musical theatre motifs. Yet too often the lyrics lean on clichés—“poor” rhyming with “pour” stands out—and several songs felt like filler, existing only to stretch runtime rather than enrich character or advance plot. On top of this, sound issues plagued the performance, muddying lyrics and sapping emotional moments of their impact.
That said, not all was lost. Maria Karelina (Jane) and Guglielmo Maria d’Avino (Oliver) shared lovely vocal chemistry, and their duets offered welcome moments of sincerity and melodic clarity. Dan Riley, portrayed with gripping intensity by Richard Allen, was the undeniable emotional core of the production. As a brutish, haunted alcoholic mourning the loss of his sister, Allen delivered a performance with real depth and pain. His request for forgiveness was one of the few genuinely affecting scenes of the night.
The rest of the cast worked hard, particularly the ensemble, who powered through some bewildering choreography and staging decisions with commitment. Robbie Swan delivered a predictably cocky Dodger, while Amber Simone’s Bet exuded a magnetic stage presence in every scene she appeared.
Unfortunately, the technical elements struggled to support the story. Lighting changes were jarring, and transitions felt rushed or awkward. The choreography, though occasionally inventive, often felt disconnected from the emotional stakes or narrative flow.
In the end, Twisted! feels like a show with the ambition to say something powerful about poverty, injustice, and redemption—but it lacks the structural, lyrical, and emotional clarity to do so. There are seeds of a strong story here, but as it stands, this sequel offers little more than a tangle of missed opportunities, inconsistent tone, and a plot that ultimately leads nowhere.
TWISTED! The Musical tours the UK this summer. Tickets are available here.
I was at the gala night and the show was exceptional. I thought the black wings scene was pure genius and for anyone who appreciates artistic flare this will bring a tear to the eye. The story was compelling and the musical numbers reflected a perfect balance of stylish nods to Lionel Bart and also modern styling. Most musicals swing on one or two good songs, but Twisted the Musical is packed with catchy classics that stand up on their own. I would expect anyone attending a sequel of sorts to Oliver Twist would be coming with at least a vague idea of the original storyline, but this is also a new story and I was more than happy with the setups. This is a musical through and through and the songs speak for themselves.
This show sweeps one into the story with multiple character storylines intertwining to the point where each viewer will naturally lock into one of the stories as their emotional attachment.
We live in an age of soundbites and summaries, and Twisted! the Musical is a brilliant night’s escapism, music and stories. It is a breath of fresh air mixing old and new, so needed on a world of ‘musicals’ regurgitating 80s and 90s pop songs around a shoddy storyline.
Get a ticket , bring the family and enjoy a show that has something for everyone. The standing ovation and rapturous applause after each big number on gala night tells a much different story to Maria’s review as was the buzz afterwards. Congrats to the team who put this together.