Oliver Twist (left), played by Lindsay Clark, and the Artful Dodger, played by Frances Buckroyd, in "Oliver Twist." UK's TNT Theater will bring this Charles Dickens' classic to Shanghai stage in English from next Tuesday. One of the twists of the play is that some of the lead male roles will be played by women, like Twist and the Artful Dodger.

A riveting adaptation of "Oliver Twist"-a gallows' view through the cynical eyes of Fagin - will be staged in Shanghai, which confronts some of the same problems of poverty and crime faced by London in the 19th century, writes Michelle Zhang.

Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist," one of the most famous stories of all time and the first English novel with a child protagonist, has been adapted so often in films and musicals that almost everyone believes it's a sentimental tragedy.

But Director Paul Stebbing from the England's TNT Theater doesn't think so. His novel adaption of "Oliver Twist" has a peculiar opening. The dark work written in 1837 is presented through the eyes of pickpocket master Fagin as he stands on the gallows awaiting execution. He is there to justify his life of crime.

Now it's time the audience supplies the answers: Is Fagin a man who looks after abandoned "street children" or does he corrupt them by turning them into thieves? Does he care for his boy thieves or does he exploit them? Is he a monster or a new father?

And most important: Is he a criminal or a victim?

"I think Fagin is the central character," Stebbing says. "His life asks the central question of the story: What is the relation between poverty and crime?"

The problem of London is still repeated today in a modern metropolis like Shanghai. Children from poorer areas of the country coming to the big city are faced with the same set of problems that Twist himself faced. The issues must be debated and tackled.

Shanghai audiences will have a chance to ponder the problem and enjoy "Oliver Twist" from next Tuesday in English, with Chinese subtitles at the Shanghai Drama Arts Theater.

"I think 'Oliver Twist' is the first novel in any language about poor people," says the English director. "The themes and social issues raised by Dickens are as relevant today as when it was first published more than 150 years ago. It explores the way society treats its weakest members."

The artistic director of TNT Theater says the theater tries to choose titles that the audience wants to see and then do original theater inside the familiar story - as they did with Shakespeare's "Macbeth," which they brought to Shanghai in 2005. The plot concentrates on the supernatural elements and, above all, on the witches instead of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

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