Adaptations are a tricky little venture.

How does one take a monumental novel that lives in a world beyond 500 pages, and whittle it down to a stage play that hovers just beyond two hours?

In San Jose Stage’s delightful interpretation of the Charles Dickens 1861 thematic masterpiece “Great Expectations,” adapted by Neil Bartlett, the epic nature of the narrative is palpable. There is a striking contrast between the original source material informed by Victorian essence, which is accented with a fierce commitment to minimalism in this production.

While the sharpness of execution wasn’t always present and the show slows down a bit too much in moments, which undercuts the intended magic, the hallmark of this particular production is a fantastic cast of six veteran performers who shift and shape the static stage constantly.

“Great Expectations” is the story of Pip (Keith Pinto), introduced as an adult reflecting on the devastation of his life. His story begins in a churchyard out on the marsh country by the river, where Pip’s parents and siblings are buried. While Pip mourns his losses as a 7-year-old, he is attacked by the robber Magwitch (Julian Lopez-Morillas) and is forced to aid him in theft, while his brother-in-law Joe (Norman Gee) assists a group of soldiers to capture Magwitch..

The other main plot consists of the calamitous existence of wealthy spinster Miss Havisham (Li-Leng Au), a woman who was spurned before becoming a bride, literally wearing her devastation every day by refusing to remove her wedding dress. While Pip engages in daily visits with Miss Havisham, it is her adopted daughter Estella (Jennifer Le Blanc) who becomes the target of his advances, yet Pip realizes that he does not have the stature to reach Estella’s lofty societal position that is crafted from wealth.

The Stage’s production is stewarded beautifully by director Kenneth Kelleher, who has a firm understanding of the physicality the show needs. A forceful Pinto, who never leaves the stage, has clear intentions from the start, which include finding a wide range of character nuances that heighten Pip’s truth in the journey.

What works splendidly is how the production is neatly unified through metaphor. Pip is a character that is ensconced in devastation — losing an entire family as a young boy, getting attacked while mourning, and enduring a lifetime of humiliation from those who are quick to amplify his lack of anything worthy at every turn. In many ways, he is the perfect foil for the zeitgeist of the Victorian era, amplifying the specificity of the classes as one of its rejects.

This space Pip moves through is captured by the lack of set design that features only Roman numerals on the floor, the kind one would find on a grandfather clock. Maurice Vercoutere’s lighting illuminates a world surrounded by darkness, which carries the heavy lifting of the stage, always peering in subtly with a warm wash of bluish and violet tones.

While Pip yearns for what he cannot have, the money he comes into never enriches him, and attending school to become a gentleman proves unfulfilling.

While the play has the ability to become convoluted at times, it is the veteran performers that smolder in many moments, a troupe with a keen understanding of what it means to engage in the give-and-take of an ensemble piece.

Au in particular is beautifully presented, providing a visceral insight into the psychology of a woman scorned. She is a sentient being who foreshadows her own end constantly. Lopez-Morillas is grizzled, navigating worlds between loathsome and heroic. Gee’s turn as the blacksmith Joe provides a warmth that is absent from many of his peers, giving the audience the hope of humanity in this self-absorbed world.

Le Blanc’s Estella is calculated and shrewd, providing a dashing smile that is devoid of benevolence, opting instead for deliberate cruelty. And Nick Rodrigues is seamless in multiple roles, namely as Pip’s cheery and optimistic friend Herbert Pocket. All of these performances are given a fantastic assist by dialect coach Kimberly Mohne Hill and a multitude of sharp costumes and pieces by Jean Cardinale.

Time plays a wonderful metaphor in “Great Expectations,” an ironic title that speaks to the hopes and dreams of each character in widely divergent ways. Whether or not great expectations come to fruition for these souls, time will continue to march on. But sadly, for a select few, time will always stand still.

David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics Association. Twitter @davidjchavez.

‘GREAT EXPECTATIONS’

By Charles Dickens, adapted by Neil Bartlett, presented by San Jose Stage Company

Through: Dec. 12

Where: San Jose Stage, 490 S. 1st St., San Jose

Running time: 2 hours

COVID precautions: Proof of vaccination required, masks must be worn inside the theater

Tickets: $32-$72; www.thestage.org