The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (play) reception was enthusiastic, critical reception was mixed. Frank Rich in "New York Times" reported dull passages piling up as "dead weight", while John Simon in the "New York Magazine" felt that the work was a "middlebrow enterprise" doing "scant justice" to the novel. In contrast Mel Gussow, again in "The New York Times", noted that ""Nicholas Nickleby" remains true to Dickens – many of the lines are taken directly from the novel, dialogue as well as narration – and to first principles of theater" when describing the RSC's recast production in 1986. Playwright and reviewer Thomas Hischak, writing in retrospect
Nicholas Nickleby (1912 film) to Squeers, and Nicholas then leaves London to go to Wackford's Dotheboys Hall, as Kate and Mrs. Nickelby sadly look on. Squeers and Nickleby arrive at Dotheboys Hall, met by Smike, the broken-down sad drudge of the school. Nicholas meets Mrs. Squeers and the couples' daughter Fanny (who is immediately taken by Nicholas' handsome looks), and impish son Wackford junior. In class, Mr. Squeers treats the children badly and feeds them very little (one spoonful of something unpleasant for each). Fanny finds an excuse to enter the classroom to see Nicholas, the object of her affection. Smike enters after the