Flowers For Mrs Harris - Review

Riverside Studios, London

****

Music and lyrics by Richard Taylor

Book by Rachel Wagstaff

Based on the novel by Paul Gallico

Directed by Bronagh Lagan

Jenna Russell

Flowers For Mrs Harris is a carefully constructed fairytale for the 20th century that’s all about class, love and coping with bereavement.

Set in the rationed aftermath of World War Two, Ada Harris and Violet Butterfield are two working-class cleaning ladies from Battersea, both widowed in the Great War some 30 years previously. In a time of “make-do and mend” a chance swapping of the women’s wealthy clients sees Ada fall in love with a stunning Christian Dior dress and what follows is a whimsical, magical tale that sees her scrimp and save to travel to Paris to buy her own Dior frock.

The story is as charming as it is improbable, but what makes this revival of Richard Taylor & Rachel Wagstaff’s show is the stunning company that Bronagh Lagan has assembled. Jenna Russell is Ada Harris in a role that could have been written for her. Russell’s Ada is the most perfectly nuanced take on a woman whose character is strong and perceptive yet delicately fragile, a middle-aged cockney concocting heartbreak and humour faultlessly. The show’s tunes may not be memorable, but in the hands of Russell and her supporting cast, they form an exquisite and perceptive take on the human condition.

Not only is Jenna Russell magnificent, she is surrounded by a stunning ensemble. Without giving too much away, all of the actors who play characters from Ada’s Battersea life, pop up again in Paris subtly mirroring their previous incarnations. All are excellent, but worthy of mention are Hal Fowler who plays the spirit of Ada’s dead husband Albert in act one. As down-to-earth as his missus, Fowler’s turn is one of magnificent sensitivity.

Charlotte Kennedy

Equally brilliant is Charlotte Kennedy, who in the second half stuns as Parisian model Natasha. Kennedy breathes humanity into the mannequin of her character with a vocal and physical presence that are both breathtaking. Annie Wensak’s Violet is another carefully weighted performance that skilfully mines the script’s comic seams.

The setting of the show is a little squashed at the Riverside, with perhaps budgetary constraints seeing Nik Corrall’s designs not doing justice to the actors’ flawless work. A nod though to Lez Brotherston’s Dior gowns, first and breathtakingly created for the show’s Sheffield premiere in 2016 and which have been generously loaned to this production, and also to Jonathan Gill's 6-piece band who are a delight.

But the evening belongs to Russell who delivers arguably the finest take on Ada Harris yet seen in this country. Flowers For Mrs Harris is gorgeous modern writing and an enchanting evening’s entertainment.

Runs until 25th November

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

Little Women - Review

Park Theatre, London

****

Music by Jason Howland

Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein
Book by Allan Knee
Based on the book by Louisa May Alcott
Directed by Bronagh Lagan

Lydia White

In its UK premiere, Bronagh Lagan’s take on this 2005 Broadway musical makes for a charming night that defines much of what is excellent about London’s fringe theatre. Amidst a show of deliciously high production values (take a bow producer Katy Lipson) Lydia White as Jo leads a company of 11 in bringing Louisa May Alcott’s classic tale to life.

Playing out in the northern USA against the backdrop of the American Civil War, Alcott’s much loved fable speaks of love, dreams, ambition and tragedy mixed in with tenderly observed sibling rivalries and affection.

White has the lion’s share of the numbers and she gives life to storyteller Jo’s fiery arc of independence. Alongside her literary talents are her sister Beth’s musical flair and Amy’s talent for painting, as Meg makes up the quartet of the March sisters. All four young women are perceptively and very well performed, but in a stand out turn for sensitively delivered poignancy laden with highly charged understatement, Anastasia Martin’s Beth is sensational.

Jason Howland’s score may not be the most memorable but Leo Munby (MD and keyboards) together with his four string players perched high aloft the stage produce an exquisite and immaculately rehearsed sound. Credit too to Nik Corrall’s outstanding design and projections, and  Sarah Golding’s choreography, all of which make fine and imaginative work of the Park’s intimate space.

The first act drags a little but in this co-production with Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre the show will hopefully go on to enjoy a longer life on these shores. Fans of both the novel or the musical theatre genre will not be disappointed.

Runs until 19th December
Photo credit: Pamela Raith

C.O.N.T.A.C.T - Review

****

Originally created by Samuel Sené and Gabrielle Jourdain

English adaptation by Quentin Bruno
Directed by Samuel Sené, associate director Bronagh Lagan.

It’s a typical wet and dreary slightly muggy evening in the capital. Sodden shoes, jeans damp already but you know what? As 6pm approached at the agreed meeting point, one would not wish to be anywhere else. Katy Lipson’s promenade production takes away "pre-show orders at the bar" offering instead a purer theatre: stripped down, bare and exposed in the streets of London. 

At just under an hour's duration, C-O-N-T-A-C-T consists of a cast of two and is playing out at various places across London. This reviewer saw Laura White and Max Gold taking on the double-hander at a location close to Monument tube station. As the play opens we find Sarah (White) sat alone on a bench from which we start to share her journey - a very personal expression of her thoughts from the pandemic that range from music, to work pressures, to stomach cramps. Such is the writer’s perception that there will be different moments within the narrative that will likely resonate with most of the audience. Sarah’s time remains private until she is interrupted by the arrival of a Raphael (Gold) a stranger who sits down next to her, socially distanced of course, with Sarah finding herself establishing a strange form of contact with this man whom she barely knows. 

Before delving into Sarah’s mind, the very first experience of C-O-N-T-A-C-T is the state of the art immersive sounds and music that play through each member of the audience’s personal headphones. Cyril Barbessol’s sound design is extraordinary, instantly taking the audience into another world of stereo soundscapes so carefully crafted that they could almost suggest a state of the art theme-park experience. Weaved into it this audio are the recordings of Aoife Kennan vocalising Sarah and Richard Heap as Raphael. Interestingly, while the layering of sounds, synth, music and voice is both innovative and transporting, there are moments in which the sfx or music overwhelms. If it were to be sometimes just the actors’ voices in their simplest, natural form this may well prove more effective. 

Sarah and Raphael may start the piece as strangers but they quickly form an incredibly open, and in many ways complex, relationship. Gold offers an initially slightly unnerving aloofness and detachment from Sarah, but nonetheless gives a well rounded performance in this new form of theatre where the audio track dictates every single moment, thought and action to the millisecond. White however takes the audience on the most personal of journeys, anxieties and revelations. Her natural instincts, intuition and honesty would be something to behold on a traditional stage and sat 30 rows back – but up close and some 5 meters away in the rain, her performance is little short of extraordinary. 

As joggers run by and tourists stop to gander there is something very refreshing about this piece of unconventional theatre that recently premiered in Paris. Sené’s direction is so intricate and versatile however that one suspects the piece could be picked up and played anywhere in the world. And so it should. At a time where the world for the most part has been without theatre for so long, C.O.N.T.A.C.T is an opportunity to reacquaint oneself and make contact with an art form so close to so many, on a whole new level.

Runs until 10th October 2020
Book via www.contactshow.co.uk

Reviewed by Davide Davidssonn

Rags - Review

Park Theatre, London

****

Music by Charles Strouse

Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Book by Joseph Stein

Revised book by David Thompson

Directed by Bronagh Lagan

Carolyn Maitland

Rags from Stephen Schwartz and Charles Strouse is a show that is set in New York City’s Lower East Side around the turn of the 20th century. Seen through the eyes of Rebecca, a penniless seamstress straight off the boat together with her young son David, the tale largely of Manhattan’s impoverished Jewish community, but with enough references to the Jews’ Italian migrant neighbours to define it as a non-denominational commentary upon immigration.

The book is by Joseph Stein and it has long been suggested that Rags represents a sequel to his earlier Fiddler On The Roof. But where that show achieved it’s punch through simple human challenges, beautifully told, Rags is more of a melting pot of issues that, combined, lack the same emotional heft. There is a narrative here that veers too easily into cliche and this perhaps is the reason behind the show’s failure to achieve lasting Broadway success.

That being said, director Bronagh Lagan has assembled some gifted talent in her Park Theatre company with Carolyn Maitland as Rebecca driving the show. Maitland is never less than magnificent in all her work and here she both captures and stirs our hearts in her take on the beautiful, driven young mother that she plays - her solo delivery of the closing number Children Of The Wind is stunning.

Dave Willetts puts in a strong turn as the kindly Avram who takes Rebecca into his home. There is a confidence in Willetts’ performance that captures moments of complex nuance. Opposite him, is Rachel Izen’s Rachel in another genius delivery that masterfully displays understated humour finely contrasted with the wry and wise experience of a long life, fully lived. The pair’s duet of Three Sunny Rooms is a highlight.

In charge of Strouse’s compositions is musical director Joe Bunker, who not only manages half of his 8-piece band from across two lofty corners of the stage but also conducts 4 onstage actor-musos too. Credit to all the musicians - the score straddles a multitude of genres with Bunker’s band deftly delivering across the evening.

Rags may be more schmaltz than substance but in this, its London premiere as a fully staged production, it is still a fine example of off-West End musical theatre.

Runs until 8th February

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

A Night At The Oscars - Review

Upstairs At The Gatehouse, London

****

Written by Chris Burgess

Directed by Bronagh Lagan

Laura Sillett, Kieran Brown, Steven Dalziel, Natalie Green

A Night At The Oscars is the latest revue to showcase some of the last century’s finest songs. In two hours (and two acts) Bronagh Lagan’s cast whirl their way through snatches of 60 songs all of which have an association with either Academy Award nominees or winners.

Chris Burgess has weaved a well-researched narrative that interjects moments of history and comment along the way. The strength of the show though rests in the talents of the 4 performers who make this snapshot tour of much of the American Songbook (and indeed, beyond) such a polished gem.

Kieran Brown, Steven Dalziel, Natalie Green and Laura Sillett are all on top form. Amidst so many classic songs it is hard to highlight the (many) treats, but the stand out moments from the women were both Judy Garland numbers from the first half. Sillett delivered an exquisite take on Yip Harburg’s Over The Rainbow that captured the song’s powerful fragility. The act’s closing number saw Green sing The Man That Got Away with a handling of the song that made for a spine-tingling heartbreaker, a reminder that this is a number that’s not heard often enough.

Dalziel and Brown offered a memorably tight duet of Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? (Harburg again) and also an unexpected close harmony of What’s New Pussycat. The tongue in cheek highlight of the gig however was undoubtedly Brown’s powerful delivery of Live And Let Die – he was magnificent!   

It is a credit to producer Katy Lipson for assembling such spot-on talents for her quartet who are well supported by musical director Ben Ferguson and choreographer Chris Cuming, who has produced well drilled excellence from his tiny cast in the Gatehouse’s compact space.

Carefully curated by Burgess, A Night At The Oscars is a charming production of a delightful idea.

Runs until 4th March, then playing at the Radlett Centre on 11th March

Photo credit: Tim Hall

Promises, Promises - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London


****

Music by Burt Bacharach
Lyrics by Hal David
Book by Neil Simon
Based on the screenplay "The Apartment" by Billy Wilder and I.A.L Diamond
Directed by Bronagh Lagan

Gabriel Vick and Daisy Maywood

Promises, Promises at the Southwark Playhouse is a delightful splash of Burt Bacharach, in a musical set in 1960s New York and which hasn't played in London for nigh on fifty years. The show's pedigree is top notch, based on Billy WIlder's (he of Sunset Boulevard fame) Oscar-winning Best Picture, The Apartment, translated thence into a musical theatre book via the satirical wizardry of Neil Simon.

Chuck Baxter is a humble accounts clerk in a huge Manhattan insurance office, young and single and who lives in a modest apartment in the city. When Baxter's married manager asks if he can borrow the apartment for an extra-marital liaison with his mistress Baxter agrees - word spreads amongst the managers who all then ask for the apartment's use, with the news ultimately reaching Sheldrake, the department head, who too wants to use Baxter's flat. There's a complicated love that develops between Baxter and Fran, a waitress in the company's Executive Dining Room and for risk of spoiling, that's all that can be said about the plot.

The strength of this show however lies not only in Bacharach and David's eternally hummable tunes, but as much in Simon's razor sharp wit. The comedy is a wry New York shtick and Lagan has polished her cast into a subtle, perfectly timed delivery.

Gabriel Vick plays Baxter and he carries the show magnificently. For those that remember the movie, he captures that beautifully bemused essence of Jack Lemmon - finely principled and ultimately nobody's fool. Vick is also wonderfully voiced and when he picks up his guitar to sing I'll Never Fall In Love Again, it's a pleasant reminder that this timelessly classic song, along with the show's other great Bacharach treats, was born out of the production itself, a refreshing contrast to the modern trend of juke-box shows created long after songs have become hits. Indeed, Promises, Promises is a far more entertaining gig than the recent Close To You, a juke box show framed around the Bacharach catalogue

Opposite Vick is Daisy Maywood's Fran. Maywood captures Fran's feisty and sometimes exploited vulnerability perfectly - with more than a hint of the movie's Shirley MacLaine in her stance. Vocally she's wonderful too, making fine work of A House Is Not A Home.

The casting throughout is spot on. Paul Robinson's Sheldrake is as chiselled in his looks as his morals are despicable, the quartet of middle managers are a delight and John Guerrasio's Doctor, who lives in the flat next door, masters Simon's comically caustic New York nuance. Perhaps the most stunning supporting work comes from the ever excellent Alex Young who opens the second half hilariously as the drunken Marge, stumbling and fumbling towards a doomed romantic tumble with Baxter.

Gabriel Vick and Alex Young

The set design is imaginative but flawed (sit on the far left or right and some moments will be invisible) and likewise Joe Louis Robinson's 7 piece band, who put in a fine shift throughout the evening, need to fine tune a couple of early numbers, though note that these are very modest criticisms.

Promises Promises is a warm-hearted delight on a cold winter's night. This bittersweet story performed by a fabulous company, makes for another jewel in London's theatre crown. 

Runs until 18th February

Photo credit: Claire Bilyard

Girlfriends - Review

Union Theatre, London

***

Music and lyrics by Howard Goodall

Written by Howard Goodall in collaboration with Richard Curtis and John Retallack
Directed by Bronagh Lagan

The women's ensemble in Girlfriends

Expect to be surrounded by glorious singing and music-making at Bronagh Lagan’s revival of Girlfriends at the Union Theatre. There is much passion in Howard Goodall’s score and in choosing a story about a group of disparate women serving on an RAF base during the Second World War, there is a poignancy that well serves the current time as we mark November’s Armistice Day.

Composed shortly after The Hired Man, Goodall sought to write a piece specifically for women’s voices.  The work serves his lofty ambitions with the opening number First Day building up to support  no less than eight simultaneous, independent vocal parts. The rich, warm sound that envelops the audience is tremendously powerful and continues throughout.

The story focuses on Amy, beautifully sung by Corrine Priest (fresh from winning the Stephen Sondheim Performer of the Year Award in May) and Lou, played poignantly by Perry Lambert both vying for Guy, a dashing but emotionally detached RAF pilot played here by tenor Tom Sterling, the strongest singer in the cast.

Although Goodall’s ringing, resonant score dominates the show, Girlfriends’ weak link is the lack of real development of any of the characters.  Whilst we follow 10 young women and 2 young men, each skilfully, or at least enthusiastically, doing their daily duties be it flying planes or making tea and each making their own emotional journey of self-discovery, understanding that at any moment lives could be cut short, not much else happens. That being said, the singing is wonderful, particularly in the duet and ensemble numbers.

Amongst the cast, strong performances come from Catrina Sandison as passionate and anxious Jas, deeply troubled by the death of her own brother and as a consequence conflicted by war itself, whilst Catherine Mort (herself no stranger to Goodall’s work having in recent years played a fabulous Emily in Andrew Keates’ The Hired Man)  is also very strong as Jane, a warm and levelling presence amongst the girls. Mort’s duet with Priest in The Chances Are proving a highlight of the evening. Accompanying, Freddie Tapner’s well rehearsed four piece band delivers precision and nuance in equal measure.

In Girlfriends Goodall has dissipated the chill of wartime with one of his richest, warmest scores. If you love his work, beautifully staged, then go see this show.

Runs until 22nd November 2014

Guest reviewer - Catherine Francoise

Blood Wedding

Courtyard Theatre, London

**

Written by Federico Garcia Lorca
Translation by Tanya Ronder
Directed by Bronagh Lagan

Cassidy Janson

Lorca's Blood Wedding is a classic 20th century tragedy. Drawing upon the primal influences of the moon, the importance of the land and the spirituality of water and sketched out across a framework of love, despair and passionately tragic revenge, its poetry should harrow and destroy an audience. Bronagh Lagan's treatment of Tanya Ronder's translation sadly blunts the stark beauty of Lorca's verse.

In a cast of twelve, only three actors deliver engaging performances. Miles Yekinni, on stage for much of the single-act's 90 minute duration, stalks the characters as Death, frequently checking a pocket watch to indicate the looming, pre-destined bloody climax. Cassidy Janson, as a family servant, is an actor who only knows how to be excellent and her presence adds value to each of her scenes. Tamarin Payne's Moon, perhaps an over-excitable young girl for too much of the play's early movements, shows a beautiful balletic grace in a sweetly staged dance with Death. 

But that's it for the talent. Lynsey Beauchamp's grieving Mother hacks her way through text that should slice the audience open with her pain, trying too hard and lacking a natural air that is to be expected of a good professional performer. As the Bride, torn between the cravings of her heart for the already married Leonardo and the dutiful wife she knows she must be to her Groom, Anna Bamberger, (who also co-produces, an ominous sign) is lacklustre and wooden. And as for the story's wedding sequence, what should be an opportunity for a flamboyant and extravagant Latin dance routine is squandered. Maybe Lagan should have hired a choreographer, for whilst her wedding dance bore some recognisably Spanish touches, it was poorly planned and sloppily drilled.

Aria Entertainment who co-produce under the veritable human dynamo of Katy Lipson should get it better than this. Perhaps they need to focus more on the quality of their productions rather than the quantity?

Runs until 16th November 2013