1984 - Review

Theatre Royal, Bath

****

Written by George Orwell

Adapted by Ryan Craig

Directed by Lindsay Posner

Keith Allen and Mark Quartley

In our world today with its visibly two-tiered criminal justice system, where citizens are imprisoned for the crime of having expressed their opinions while at the same time a notoriously shamed paedophile, convicted of viewing pornographic images of the most depraved child abuse can escape a custodial sentence, it feels like a re-visiting of George Orwell's 1984 is long overdue. 

Orwell's Oceania is a totalitarian state presided over by Big Brother. A society where the militia brutalise the citizens into surrendering their capacity to think. As the regime edits the languge of its day into the continually updated 'Newspeak', the modern-day resonances with the West are troubling. Orwell's classic has long been a harsh prediction on where our democracies are heading and in Lindsay Posner's production, staged against Justin Nardella's bleak but effective video projections, there are moments of deeply harrowing horror. 

Mark Quartley plays protagonist Winston Smith, a role that is physically demanding and consuming. On stage virtually throughout, it is his arc that we follow as his secrets are betrayed and he is violently subject to electric-shock torture, its objective to destroy any sense of right and wrong that we see him desperately try to cling on to.

Opposite Quartley is Eleanor Wyld playing his love interest Julia. The pair hold our suspense throughout and as we learn of their ultimate mutual betrayal of each other, the evening's endgame is a heartbreaker.

Astride the whole work and seated on stage throughout, in what should have been a stroke of perfect casting, is Keith Allen's O'Brien. Not at his best on press night, there is more that Allen can likely bring to the role. O'Brien is a man devoid of any shred of humanity and compassion and while that harshness was at times apparent in Allen's work, there were moments when his carapace appeared to be more of a soft underbelly.

This production can only improve on the road - an intelligent treatment of one of the 20th century's finest stories.

Runs until 28th September, then on tour to Malvern, Poole, Guildford, Cambridge, Brighton, Richmond and Liverpool

Photo credit: Simon Annand

Rehab The Musical - Review

Neon 194, London

****

Music & lyrics by Grant Black and Murray Lachlan Young

Book by Elliot Davis

Directed & choreographed by Gary Lloyd

Oscar Conlon-Morrey

After a premiere on London’s fringe in 2022, Rehab The Musical takes up a brief residence at Neon 194, a nightclub in the heart of the capital.

The show is brilliantly conceived. Drawn from the lived experiences of songwriters Grant Black and Murray Lachlan Young, the musical charts the breadths and depths of addiction, while also throwing a spotlight on the callous and manipulative nature of today’s celebrity culture and the vulnerability of individuals, both humble and famous.

The cast in 2022 were magnificent - here they’re even better with the show having to be one of the finest ensemble pieces around.

Keith Allen still leads as Malcolm Stone the vile (think Max Clifford) villain of the piece. Allen offers  a brilliantly fleshed out caricature that could hardly be played better by anyone else. Mica Paris joins the show as Martha, a rehab counsellor with her vocals proving fabulous in the second half’s Museum Of Loss. 

John Barr and Jodie Steele also return, Barr as tanning-salon addict Barry Bronze and Steele as Beth, Stone’s henchman with a twist and both perform at the top of their game.

Newcomer to the show Oscar Conlon-Morrey steps into the role of the deeply damaged Phil, a man with numerous flaws in his mental health. Conlon-Morrey is magnificent in this most complex of characters, enhanced by his majestic vocal work.

Driving the show’s narrative are Christian Maynard and Maiya Quansah-Breed, respectively Kid Pop, the celeb at the centre of the story and Lucy, the fragile young woman with a troubled past but a strong moral background. Quansah-Breed’s voice is sensational, with her portrayal the more credible of the two. Rebecca Thornhill delivers a modest but flawlessly performed cameo as former Bond-girl Jane. 

Combining humour with pathos, the show resonates with an authentic  message that’s drawn from the writers’ lives. There’s lyrical magic too, not least in the hauntingly beautiful Two Broken People.

Gary Lloyd again directs and choreographs with flair, but his choice of staging in the round is hampered by the venue’s flat performing space, with characters too often either being obscured from view or simply poorly lit. The show merits a West End run on a traditional proscenium stage - Neon194 does not do it justice.

The ingredients however remain for a smash hit production - Rehab The Musical offers a strong credible story, great songs and an outstanding cast.

Runs until 17th February

Photo credit: Mark Senior

Rehab The Musical - Review

Playground Theatre, London

*****

Music & lyrics by Grant Black and Murray Lachlan Young

Book by Elliot Davis

Directed & choreographed by Gary Lloyd

Keith Allen

Rehab is one of those rare finds in the world of new musical theatre writing. A strong story, supporting stunning songs, brilliantly performed and all expertly directed.

In a story that’s drawn from writers Grant Black and Murray Lachlan Young’s personal mental health journeys, Jonny Labey plays Kid Pop, a rock star at the height of fame who gets papped doing a line of coke and is promptly sentenced to 60 days rehab at The Glade. Pop’s journey from denial to recovery is subtly yet brilliantly defined, alongside 3 other patients, with songs defining their respective addictions and flaws that capture a wryness of wit, honesty and humour and which show sensitive perception from both writers and performers.

The Glade of course is a supposedly safe and therapeutic place. Outside the clinic’s confines blows the cruel winds of the paparazzi and the media, with the villain of the piece, PR guru Malcolm Stone wonderfully defined by Keith Allen, delivering what has to be the greatest tribute act to Max Clifford ever. Pop is Stone’s client, with the PR man concocting vile and corrupt manipulations (no spoilers here) to keep his client in the headlines. As part of Stone’s deviousness he recruits Lucy Blake, a young mum who’s down on her luck (played wonderfully by Gloria Onitiri), as a honey-trap, paying her to check herself into The Glade. Onitiri has a magnificent presence and she takes the roof of the Playground with her second act number Museum of Loss

There are moments of musical theatre magic - and literal cheesiness - in the story that evolves, but such is the talent on display that the pathos evoked by the story is both credible and at times, deeply moving.

Supporting the story’s three principals are a cast that seamlessly segue in and out of various roles. John Barr as patient Barry Bronze, a man addicted to tanning is, as always, outstanding.  Phil Sealey as obsessive eater Phil Newman is equally compelling, while slightly more thinly-sketched is Annabel Giles’ Jane Killy. All of these three deliver top-notch musical theatre work, not least in their introductory number At The Glade. There is also a fine turn from Dawn Buckland in two modest cameos, firstly as Phil’s wife, singing the haunting Still Here and later with a comic masterpiece as an oligarch’s wife.

Jodie Steele is another of the evening’s treats as Stone’s assistant Beth. With her number Die At Twenty Seven And You’ll Live Forever, Steele steals the show (almost) with her breathtaking power and passion.

Above all, Rehab displays a bold, brave verve and vigour. With songs that range from first-class duetted balladry in Two Broken People through to the stadium-powered Everyone’s Taking Cocaine, slick lyrics are melded with Gary Lloyd’s pinpoint choreography and precise direction. This is a show that has invested as much in its production values as in its libretto (take a bow designers for set, light and sound Andrew Exeter and Chris Whybrow respectively) with Simon Lee’s 4-piece band, hidden atop the stage, making gorgeous work of the exciting score.

Rehab is destined for a larger future. With its brave narrative, exciting score and a company that define musical theatre excellence, catch it in The Playground for an outstanding night out.

Runs until 17th September

Photo credit: Mark Senior

North v South - Review

Certificate 18


****

Written and directed by Steven Nesbit

Freema Agyeman

North v South from Steven Nesbit is a British gangster movie that combines a sharp and witty script with some beautifully conceived violence, all performed by a cast that is to die for.

As John Claridge and Vic Clarke, crime bosses of England’s rival North and South regions meet to hammer out a partnership, Gary a psychopathic lieutenant from the South, kills the wrong man (who’s dressed up as a clown, don’t ask) and from then on it’s all, brutally, downhill. 

Both sides have traitors in the camp and for the most part Nesbit keeps the tale-telling tight. The story wobbles with a slightly implausible Romeo and Juliet theme  that centres around a smouldering Charlotte Hope, but overall the tale combines wit and grit in equal part. 

Much of the pleasure of North v South comes from its awesome line-up. Steven Berkoff’s Clarke proves once again that no-one does a bigger, better or balder Cockney bastard than this roughest of East End diamonds. That Keith Allen is his henchman only adds weight to the film’s sassy dialog, whilst Brad Moore as the treacherous Gary sets himself up for one of the most spectacular deaths in recent British cinema.

The Northerners are led by another screen giant, the weathered and wily Bernard Hill. Mixing menace with charm, Hill’s firm includes a shrewd Oliver Cotton as the brains behind the muscle, along with an ingenious casting choice that sees Freema Agyeman leap from some sensational TV performances to date, to play Penny, a sassy, educated and  multi lingual thug, as violent as she is stylish.

There is a sensational cameo from Dom Monot as transvestite assassin Gustave, whilst a novel touch sees an impressive performance from young Sydney Wade as Sam. Witnessing her clown-dad’s murder early on, her subsequent childish fumbling as she learns her way around a hi-velocity rifle gives rise to an on-screen killing that is as hilarious as it is brutal and with just a hint of Tarantino too. 

Beautifully photographed by Kyle Heslop, Neil Athale’s music also adds a dimension.

North v South is brutal, bloody and brilliant. One of the year’s classier Brit-flicks. 

Steven Berkoff and Charlotte Hope

In cinemas nationwide