IT is one of Dickens'’s best loved novels: the story of the orphan from the countryside who becomes a gentleman thanks to an unknown benefactor.

Great Expectations is the classic rags to riches tale, which is probably why it has been adapted for stage and screen more than 250 times since its publication in 1861.

So any new adaptation needs to find a new angle - which is exactly what Tanika Gupta’s new play, arriving at Malvern Theatres next month, has done.

Pip and Dickens'’s other characters have been transported to India - possibly the only country in which class structure is even more immovable than it was in Victorian England.

"I'd absolutely loved Great Expectations when I read the novel at school but I still wanted to mix it up a little," explained Gupta. "I have a degree in history and I'd always been interested in that period in India's story.

“The names of the characters - Pumblechook, Gargary - sound very Indian - and the issue of the class system in the novel is brought together with the issue of the caste system in the play."

Indeed, India certainly seems to be the perfect setting for the story - although, as has been proved time and again in film and on stage, Great Expectations is a story with universal appeal which resonates with people from all over the world.

"To an extent, we've all left our roots behind and we've become someone different,” said Gupta. “It's like people moving from Yorkshire to London and losing their accent in favour of RP.

“It's sometimes hard to retain your identity and your self-respect while achieving your goals."

- Great Expectations will be on at Malvern Theatres from Tuesday, May 3, until Saturday, May 7.

Tickets cost from £16.50 to £24.50 and can be bought by calling 01684 892277, visiting the theatre or online at malvern-theatres.co.uk.