Duncton Wood - Review

Union Theatre, London

***

Music and lyrics by Mark Carroll

Books by James Peries

Based on the novel by William Horwood

Directed by Michael Strassen

Duncton Wood is an ambitious musical from Mark Carroll, adapting the best-selling novel famously set in the meadowed world of Oxfordshire’s moles.

In the micro-budget world of the Union Theatre, where the noise of passing trains over the arches above can occasionally be a distraction, here their rumble serves well to suggest the subterranean domain we are pitched into. Sadly there’s not much else to remind us that this story is playing out underground and of course where William Horwood’s fantastic writing succeeded was in letting his readers' imaginations run wild in creating the conflicts and passions of his blind mammals’ confines. 

Fantasy story telling demands the highest burden of proof for our disbelief to be suspended (and ideally from a great height), but in Duncton Wood it barely leaves the ground. What remains is a troupe of talented performers, (including many scantily clad young men) along with some occasional moments of inspired ensemble singing. 

When one sees Cats, The Lion King or War Horse, (and accepting that the financial comparison between these titles and Duncton Wood is unfair) those shows' production values seal the illusions that their creative teams have strived for. Above all, they convince us that we are seeing living beasts rather than masked performers. Not so here, because for all of Carroll’s noble intentions, the show’s overarching impression is of a lengthy, amateurish workshop piece that is ultimately going to require a very risky investment if it is to live on. 

Michael Strassen is an accomplished and visionary director and as an experimental piece of theatre his ensemble numbers, particularly Victory in act one and After The Rain, after the interval, are stirring stuff. But too many of his solo voices are woefully under-projected. That being said, those whose acting did make me sit up were Amelia-Rose Morgan’s Rebecca and Robert Dalton’s brief appearances as Burhead. Most of this cast would do well to study their veteran colleagues Trevor Jones and Anthony Cable, who with years of experience and a smattering of operatic work too, know how to create vocal impact. There are also occasional scenes that are played out at floor level, with actors lain prone on the ground. Sat in the Union’s back rows, this action is annoyingly invisible.

The story is complex – and any future production would do well to include a synopsis in the programme. It’s basically good moles versus warrior bad moles, with the rapacious villains being profiled in black (an unhelpful reinforcement of racial prejudice, producers take note) and kitted out with Wolverine/Freddy Krueger type claws. The plot was impossible to decipher, but along the way there is a Romeo and Juliet inspired tryst and a spot of mole-themed infanticide to kick the pace along.  

There are exhilarating moments to Carroll’s score, with a thoroughly English pulse that at times hints at Howard Goodall’s The Hired Man yet also manages a surprisingly amusing nod to Carmen’s Habanera in act one’s Rose The Healer. The five-piece band work hard throughout under Josh Sood’s direction and a special mention to Jody Sapsard’s delightful work on reeds.

Quite where the production’s much trumpeted funding from the Arts Council and the Mackintosh Foundation has been used is hard to see - though if the money’s been spent paying actors a decent wage, a tough ask for any fringe show in this day and age, then fair enough.

Carroll has clearly and commendably invested months of his life into writing this piece and students and genre devotees should see the show if only for its brave curiosity value. But the script demands edits and an increased accessibility – and the staging needs to be convincingly re-engineered if the audience is to be drawn into the moles’ world. It is a credit to British talent that the show has been created, but if Duncton Wood is truly and successfully to see the light of day, then there is a lot more work to do.

Runs until 20th June 2015

Billy

Union Theatre, London

*****

Book by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais

Lyrics by Don Black

Music by John Barry

Directed by Michael Strassen



Keith Ramsay



Billy at the Union Theatre is the most sparkling celebration of talent currently to be found in an Off West End show, as this musical adaptation of Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall's Billy Liar makes its first London revival since Michael Crawford made the role his own at Drury Lane in 1974. (A production that this reviewer attended.) Musicals that comment on social issues and life's complexities are more often than not to be found set in the USA and it adds to the joy of Billy that the show is resolutely rooted on this side of the Atlantic, an infectiously glorious snapshot and celebration of 1960's England.

Set over the course of one day in the typical Yorkshire town of Stradhoughton, the show follows undertaker's assistant Billy Fisher. An incorrigible liar and fantasist, he chases the town's girls having deceitfully gotten engaged to at least of two of them, in pursuit of adolescent fumbling sex whilst lacking any sense of emotional commitment to anyone else at all.

His family and friends make up the show's company and avoiding complex staging or scenery, Michael Strassen has elicited the most eloquent performances from his cast, who with the use of skilful lighting and sound effects, create tableaux that range from bedroom to a crowded commuter bus to busy mainline train stations.

Keith Ramsay is Billy who we first encounter in flannel pyjamas as he daydreams a wartime aerial conflict. Ramsey is an inspired casting as he nails both the comedy and the  sadness of Billy's pursuit of fantasies at the expense of any jot of responsibility. He is but one of a handful of outstanding actors in a troupe that is never less than excellent. Mark Carroll and Ricky Butt are his much put upon parents. Carroll's frustration at his son's indolence is almost palpable and Butt wraps up a convincingly worn down mother and wife, who in one of Billy's fantasy sequences also shows that she remains very hot on her pins in a nifty tap routine. Paddy Glyn's Gran is a treat of a performance of understated perceptive ageing, whilst amongst Billy's cohort of fiancées Katerina Stearman breaks our hearts in her un-reciprocated devotion to the young man, Laura Bryars' Rita all cocky feisty mouth and open legs is a northern gem and Rosie Clarkson's Barbara, who has her wholesome dreams of a married life with Billy roundly shattered by his double-dating immaturity, is an exquisitely voiced soprano.

Rosie Clarkson and Laura Bryars

It is no wonder that the show is so poignant yet also so brilliantly observed. With a book by comedy giants Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and lyrics by Don Black, the creative talent that underlies the work is impeccable, supported by John Barry's melodies.

The tight space of the Union Theatre is brilliantly exploited by Strassen's intelligent handling of the piece and Tim Deiling's lighting highlights the transition between fantasy and reality seamlessly. This near-faultless production is another example of British brilliance in both writing and performance and should not be missed.

Runs to 29 June 2013