Wasted - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London


****


Music by Christopher Ash
Book & lyrics by Carl Miller
Directed by Adam Lenson

Natasha Barnes

Any musical can only be as good as its underlying book and Wasted, based upon the lives of the four Brontë siblings (3 girls and a boy) is written around a very strong core. Bursting into the Southwark Playhouse this is a brave show that celebrates the famed achievements of Charlotte, Emily and Anne and, in a marked contrast to a number of the capital's recent openings, audaciously dares to presume that its audience has a basic knowledge of classical English Literature. Wasted is a defiant and intelligent display of strong womanhood, set in era of rampant chauvinism. Not only that, but its score comes close to matching Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton with its diverse range of incorporated musical styles and sources. 

The show’s title stems from the Brontës never having lived to know the the impact that their writings were to have upon the English canon and that their lives had been little more than wasted. Carl Miller’s book sets out a clear historical arc that tracks the family’s lives in and around Haworth and their occasional ventures beyond the village. Whilst their curate father provided for the children’s every intellectual desire, remote Yorkshire left them emotionally impoverished with Anne’s heartfelt lament, No-One To Marry For Miles, defining the isolation. By way of marked contrast, when they make a first visit to the coast at Bridlington, Charlotte’s number Infinite Eternity soars with the passion of her discovering the beauty of the sea. Christopher Ash’s compositions are, for the most part, ingenious and time spanning. Tiny Magazines, sung by the Brontës when young, is a delicious a capella 4-part harmony. Elsewhere there is blues, electro and even some moments of beat-boxing, interspersed with beautiful balladry and some sometimes-wonderful rock. 

The show’s women are knockout, with Natasha Barnes storming it as Charlotte. Barnes bears an electrifying power that can conquer the biggest songs and with both (Extra)Ordinary Woman and the show’s closing title number, she takes Southwark's roof off.  Siobhan Athwal (and the show’s construct) offers an intriguing glimpse into Emily Brontë, a desperately private woman, clinging to the fringes of sanity. Yet underneath the mania we also glimpse the wild genius that created Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff. Molly Lynch is, as ever, vocally enchanting as Anne Brontë. The lesser known of the three sisters, every song Lynch delivers is a gem as she imparts a youthful wisdom to the complex role.

Molly Lynch, Siobhan Athwal, Matthew Jacobs Morgan, Natasha Barnes

Making up the quartet is Matthew Jacobs Morgan’s Branwell Brontë. While Morgan's work is flawless, the show in its current iteration is too long and were Branwell's character to be cut from a future revision, the whole piece could well become tighter.

While director Adam Lenson draws strong work from his foursome, his direction at times becomes as tangled as the mic cables that clutter the stage posing both a distraction to the audience as well as a health & safety risk to the actors. The mics are merited given the quasi-rock staging of the piece, but wireless will work better. Likewise, the overall balance of the Southwark sound mix needs a lot more work,

On a virtually bare stage. Matt Daw and Sam Waddington’s clever lighting adds both location and nuance to the show, as Joe Bunker’s band (that includes some lovely country melodies from Isabel Torres on ukulele) puts in a fine shift throughout.

Wasted doesn’t pretend to be an easy show to watch – but within it there is excellence. It is one of the finest and most carefully crafted pieces of new musical theatre writing to hit London this year.

Runs until 6th October

Photo credit: Helen Maybanks

Natasha J Barnes plays Fanny Brice in Funny Girl - Review

Savoy Theatre, London


*****


Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Bob Merrill
Book by Isobel Lennart
Revised Book by Harvey Fierstein
Directed by Michael Mayer

Natasha J Barnes

Circumstances have thrust Natasha J Barnes into playing the leading role of Fanny Brice in Michael Mayer’s production of Funny Girl, recently transferred from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the West End’s Savoy Theatre.  The show has already been reviewed by www.jonathanbaz.com in both those venues – so this review is all about Barnes.

Quite simply, she is a stunning, revelatory astonishment. The role is huge, with the actress onstage almost throughout as she charts Brice’s rise from a self-confident Brooklyn kid to Broadway star.  And it is in tracing Brice’s soaring arc, that Barnes herself soars. When we first meet her as the young Fanny, all knickerbockered and hopeful, Barnes to most of the audience, is an unknown performer – but as she sings I’m The Greatest Star, we catch a tiny glimpse of life imitating art as Barnes’ talent is revealed.

It’s not just her stunning voice that rises magnificently through the show’s two signature numbers People and Don’t Rain On My Parade – it is her ability to grasp the complexities of Brice’s life and play them convincingly. We believe in her childhood, we believe in her chutzpah and eventually, as Brice evolves into an older and ultimately wiser woman, we believe Barnes’ portrayal of Brice’s deepest love for the errant Nicky Arnstein and her formidable strength as she moves forward from a failed marriage.

Barnes captures the nuance, the poise, the comedy and the raw gutsy energy that epitomised Fanny Brice – and she brings back to the role the passion that was first (and last?) seen when Sheridan Smith opened this show at the Menier 6 months ago.  Since then, Smith’s personal life has been desperately painful - and all too publicly too - and no-one would wish her a return to this most demanding of roles until she is fully fit.

But until Smith is ready to play Funny Girl again, she can at least be assured that the show is in safe hands. In a display of pure theatrical magic, Natasha J Barnes stuns us with her acting, touches our hearts with People and in closing both halves of the show with Don’t Rain On My Parade, makes spines tingle and hairs stand on end.  Barbra Streisand may have created Fanny Brice, but Barnes’ take on the role reminds one of that other classic Streisand performance, A Star Is Born.


Funny Girl is booking until 8th October

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Tryst - Review

Tabard Theatre, London



****



Written by Karoline Leach
Directed by Phoebe Barran

Natasha J Barnes and Fred Perry

Tryst is a play that cleverly and chillingly explores domestic abuse. A charming man may often be the most feared by women as there is a risk that through a subtle combination of power and control, he may both captivate and ensnare his victims, with it sometimes taking months or even years to uncover the hallmark characteristics of his terror.

Tryst, by contrast, is set over a few days. And, more importantly, the true colours of the man in question are proudly displayed to the audience from the get-go. 

Superficially, the premise is simple: boy meets girl. But it’s not so much that simplicity as rather ‘crook meets his mark.’ From the outset the play is completely transparent. The crook in question, George (Fred Perry), informs the audience of his plans for his next target, quickly revealed to be Adelaide (Natasha J Barnes). She is consigned to working in the back of a milliner’s shop, because, like the other girls forbidden from gracing the shop floor, there’s “something wrong” with her. This gaping chink in her self-esteem, along with her fiscal assets, makes her an ideal target for George.

The first half of the production weaves a tale of rapid courtship, told through a combination of rapidly changing separate monologues and interactions between the two characters. It’s a dynamic that is mirrored by the interplay between Matt Drury’s lighting design and Max Dorey’s set, serving to amplify the tension. 

As the story progresses, layers of Adelaide’s character are unwrapped, each revealing something even more endearing. George follows a similar trajectory but with one striking difference – he has laid out his modus operandi in his opening dialogue. Delivered in an authentically cold and calculating manner, it is difficult to forget this and consequently, to be entirely pulled into the transformation that he pulls off. The parallel that comes to mind is one of a magician revealing his tricks; once done, it is near impossible for the watchful viewer to truly forget them. 

In a two-character play, the audience needs to fully believe in both protagonists. Adelaide undertakes a journey of personal growth, peppered with a shrewd observations and self-awareness. She’s immensely likeable and in a magnificent performance Barnes’ portrayal of a complex young woman sees the actor continually digging into the depths of her emotional reserve to keep the audience fully vested in her story. George, on the other hand, never entirely crosses the bridge into believability – this is both a relief (for that would make it unbearably dark) and a shame, as it feels that this might have been always the intention. 

The script is beautifully crafted, moving at a pace that flits between thundering forward to reflect the fast passage of time and pulling back to uncover a multitude of truths. And it’s this concept of truth and reality – and by extension, trust – that lies at the heart of this play. 

It is impossible to view Tryst outside of the very current lens of sexual harassment and assault that are currently dominating the media; particularly the strand of debate about the situations that sit along this spectrum. It provides the play with a framework that makes for particularly uncomfortable viewing, especially given that this play is set in the Victorian era.

The newly-renovated Tabard Theatre, situated opposite a church and a park, is an ideal home for this production on a dark and windy October’s night. Tryst stays with the audience long after the end of its 90 minutes, as any great thriller should do. It pervades the mind and through the select questions it leaves unanswered, bequeaths a haunting legacy.

Runs until 5 November

Reviewed by Bhakti Gajjar

Photo credit: Alastair Hilton

Funny Girl - Review

Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes


*****


Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Bob Merrill
Book by Isobel Lennart
Revised Book by Harvey Fierstein
Directed by Michael Mayer

Sheridan Smith

Revisiting Funny Girl, now on tour after its tumultuous (but always impressive) London run that had started at the Menier Chocolate Factory, it’s almost impossible to believe how Michael Mayer had managed to stage it in that tiny space south of the river. Now, watching it in a venue several times the size, the touring production looks absolutely fabulous - cast, set and costumes with the show sounding sparkling, new and exuberant.

This timeless, true life, rags-to-riches story of a Jewish Hungarian immigrant’s talented but quirky daughter certainly captivated the midweek full house at Milton Keynes and no doubt will do so on the rest of the tour. Sheridan Smith is vibrant and happy, back on top form and absolutely owning the character of Fanny Brice that she created at the Menier. She was born to play this role!

Opposite her is Chris Peluso who the gods have blessed with a glorious voice and as gorgeous a presence.  Peluso’s Nick Arnstein is a little more serious than Darius Campbell’s London performance and isn't quite (yet) the match for Smith’s on-stage majesty. But these are very early days for this national tour, and there is every likelihood that Peluso will dig just a little deeper to more than rise to the role.

The supporting cast are fabulous with no weak links. There’s fine work (and tap dancing)from Joshua Lay’s ‘disappointed in love’ Eddie. Rachel Izen, Myra Sands and  Zoe Ann Bown are a hoot as Fanny’s mother and her friends, ladies of a certain age delighting in life and gossip. Throughout, the Ziegfeld girls look and sound stunning and alongside the ensemble boys, all dance with style and panache.

Jule Styne’s score sounds tremendous, wonderfully arranged by Alan Willams and superbly orchestrated by Chris Walker. It’s a tribute to the band to see so many of the audience stay and listen to the very end of the play out and deservedly applaud.

Credit too to Smith (and at certain future performances, her famously sensational London understudy Natasha J Barnes too) for having the gumption to go on the road with the show. All too often, a show’s headline stars can tend to drift away come tour-time, replaced by leads who whilst unquestionably excellent, lack star quality. Not so here, where Smith will be toughing out like a trouper. Brava!

Funny Girl on tour is a chance to glimpse the West End’s finest, up close. We’re all people who need people and amidst a marvellous company, Sheridan Smith continues to make this show unmissable.

Runs until 4th March - Then tours. For schedule click here. 

Reviewed by Catherine Françoise

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Chess - Review

Union Theatre, London

***

Music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Co directed by Christopher Howell and Steven Harris

Sarah Galbraith

The Union Theatre production of  Chess marks a welcome return to London for this 1980s hallmarked show,  dreamed up and written by Tim Rice (who endorses this revival) with musical life breathed into it by the ABBA men, Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus.  Set against a frosty Cold War backdrop, the politics of the piece now seem as dated as the 1956 Hungarian collapse was to the show's creators, yet as well as proving to be a complicated history lesson with a plot line that holds more twists than a Le Carre novel, Chess was always an exciting piece of theatre with some hauntingly passionate melodies.

 

If all had gone to plan for this show  it would be garnering five stars, simply because when it's good, it's bloody brilliant. The ensemble voice work in particular is inspiring and beautifully co-ordinated. When the evening is not at its five star best though, it smacks of mediocrity. Craig Rhys Barlow's Arbiter could act but barely sustain a note, whilst Nadim Naaman as the Soviet champion Anatoly Sergievsky, disappointed too. Granted, his is a tough role to play requiring a combination of majestic presence and cold Russian inscrutability, but Naaman fails to get the mix right. Anthem, arguably one of the best act one closers ever, should leave one rushing for the bar desperate for a drink to calm the nerves that ought to have been reduced to quivers of emotion. Not so in this version, but with a month or so left on the run it should still be possible for the actor to step up through the gears in this song, as its a number that demands to be one of the musical’s high spots.  As the American player Frederick Trumper, Tim Oxbrow also has a torrid first half. Notwithstanding his electric acting, his voice initially just doesn’t match the role. To Oxbrow’s credit he redeems himself after the break, warming up with a fun One Night In Bangkok and giving a truly blistering rendition of Pity The Child.

So, what was outstanding about this show? Two words - Sarah Galbraith. This talented Jersey Girl has settled in London and our gain is the Garden State's loss. As Florence Vassy, a Hungarian child émigré from 1956, her character is complex and through the course of the show she is destined to love both of the opposing chess masters. Galbraith never falters, going on to perfectly capture the emotional fragility of her character’s torment in the final act at the uncertainty that surrounds the fate of her father. The actress' poise is perfect and her voice has the most measured yet proportionate strength to be found off West End. The cast are not mic’d for this show, yet Galbraith’s power combined with her impeccable diction (is she really an American?) seemed to have an amplification of her own.  Her Heaven Help My Heart was magnificent whilst her Nobody’s Side bore an exquisite delicacy. Natasha J Barnes who plays Svetlana Sergievskaya, Anatoly’s betrayed wife, is also blessed with a wonderful tone, most notable in Someone Else’s Story, but in what was actually a beautifully sung duet with Galbraith, the signature melody I Know Him So Well, the American actress’ vocal perfection and power proved almost unfair competition for the Briton and it is Galbraith’s reclamation of Anthem at the show’s conclusion that restores that number’s power and ensures one leaves the theatre with spine still re-assuringly tingling.

Gillian Kirkpatrick is Alexandra Molokova, a nasty KGB stooge that interestingly is usually a man's role. Kirkpatrick’s performance was a masterclass in playing a key supporting character that draws from her recent terrific Beggarwoman in the Chichester Festival Sweeney Todd. Her manipulative malevolence never falters throughout, rising superbly to have the audience in the palm of her hand for her big number, The Soviet Machine. Also consistently excellent is Natalie McQueen’s preening US TV presenter Angela St Angelo, with accent, poise and gleaming teeth perfectly honed for the part. Neil Stewart’s Walter de Courcey, Molokova’s opposite number from the USA is another fine example of a supporting role wonderfully delivered, whilst the brief tap dancing comic interlude of Wayne Rogers and Katie Bradley provides a witty take on the stereotyped British civil servant.

Ben Roger’s lighting, notwithstanding its clever ( if rather noisy) technology could have been better plotted. During act one’s Merano, Natalie McQueen is given to singing some solo lines, centre stage, in virtual darkness and this requires urgent attention.  Sioned Jones does some sterling work with the company’s accents and Simon Lambert directs his 8 piece band with panache, effectively bringing out the richness of the music from a score that was written for a much larger orchestra. Some of the melodies, in particular Chess Game #1, have an ethereal quality that Lambert cleverly extracts from the Swedes’ compositions.

Sasha Regan has produced an entertaining and at times thrilling night out. Whilst any show can be no more than the sum of its components, this production’s strengths dazzle and do outweigh its flaws. See it, to understand the flavour of an era past and the excellence of some wonderful performances and some fabulous tunes.

Runs to March 16th