`EXPECTATIONS' SOLIDLY FULFILLED.

Byline: Daryl H. Miller Daily News Theater Critic

Like so many of Charles Dickens' great works, ``Great Expectations'' celebrates the human spirit's ability to thrive even amid the harshest of conditions in industrializing Victorian England.

It's a tale of crushing poverty, dashed dreams, cruel manipulation and emotional meltdown - and it's absolutely enchanting.

The story comes vividly to life at Glendale's A Noise Within, where a faithful adaptation has been simply but imaginatively staged in a manner reminiscent of the legendary early-'80s adaptation of Dickens' ``Nicholas Nickleby.''

The show joins excellent productions of Shakespeare's ``As You Like It'' and Eugene O'Neill's ``Ah, Wilderness

'' - already playing in repertory - and, miraculously, manages to top them.

Dickens' 1861 novel extols compassion, forgiveness and selflessness, all of which are embodied in the story's central character, an orphaned lad nicknamed Pip (Donald Sage Mackay), and the man who teaches him these qualities by example: his brother-in-law and surrogate father, Joe (Michael Manuel).

Their bond is beautifully established in the early scenes, as young Pip curls at the gentle blacksmith's feet to confide his hopes and fears. Joe listens attentively, soothing the lad by running his fingers through the boy's hair.

Pip's qualities stand in sharp contrast to that of his childhood playmate Estella (Betsy Ferguson), an entrancing but ice-cold creature who was adopted and raised by rich, eccentric Miss Havisham (Deborah Strang).

Abandoned on her wedding day, Miss Havisham lives amid the long-ruined remains of her marriage celebration (including the rat-infested wedding cake) and has become mummified inside her grimy bridal gown. Intending to wreak vengeance on all men, Miss Havisham has trained Estella to break hearts. Pip is her first victim.

As Pip grows older, he, too, gains a benefactor who tries to mold him into something new. The unknown patron provides generous sums so that Pip can develop into a ``gentleman.'' But no amount of money can purchase the strength of character that already makes him a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.

Working on a minimally furnished stage, husband and wife directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez Elliott construct scenic elements from whatever items are at hand. So, for instance, a stagecoach ride is taken with the driver sitting on a short stool and the passenger sitting on a higher stool behind him - both of them bouncing simultaneously along the bumpy road.

Mackay glows as Pip; Manuel resonates quiet dignity as Joe; Strang is downright spooky as Miss Havisham; and, doing double duty as an actor as well as co-director, Geoff Elliott lends unexpected warmth and nobility to the escaped convict who keeps surfacing throughout the story.

Thomas Buderwitz's wood and bare-metal set is appropriately spare and industrial-looking; James P. Taylor's lighting creates a gloomy, haunting atmosphere; and Kay Lynn Peebles' costumes are authentically severe and scratchy-looking.

Barbara Field's adaptation retains much of Dickens' novel, but to keep things moving at a steady clip, it breezes through some of the most spectacular scenes - including Miss Havisham's fiery demise - and leaves little time to reflect on the play's themes. It's a small flaw in an otherwise towering achievement.

The facts The show: ``Great Expectations.''

Where: A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale.

When: Various dates and times; through May 26.

Running time: Two hours, 52 minutes; one intermission.

Tickets: $18 and $22, available by calling [phone].

Our rating: Three stars

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Deborah Strang is the rich, eccentric Miss Havisham, with Donald Sage Mackay as the orphaned lad Pip in ``Great Expectations.''