Carmen 1808 - Review

Union Theatre, London


**


Music by Georges Bizet
Arranged by Teddy Clements
Book and lyrics by Phil Willmott
Adapted from the libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
Based on a novella by Prosper Mérimée

The Company

There’s a noble intent behind Phil Willmott’s Carmen 1808 that seeks to meld Bizet’s opera into a narrative inspired by Goya’s painting of Napoleon’s troops brutally firing on defenceless Spanish civilians during the Peninsular War of the early 19th century. 

Tinkering with greatness does, however, demand greatness from the tinkerer - and there is little that is great about this show. Bizet wrote his tunes for classical operatic voices and, aside from the sonorous charms of Alexander Barria (whose Royal Academy of Music training stands out a mile) as Goya sketching out the unfolding narrative, most of the other voices are lost in the Union’s un-mic’d melee. Rachel Lea-Gray in the title role puts in a fine shift but she’s found wanting in the Habanera.

In the right hands (and voices) opera’s classics can work spectacularly on the fringe but all too often in this show one is left with the distinct feeling that Willmott has done to Bizet’s melodies what Napoleon’s riflemen did to the helpless Spanish. There are occasional moments of redemption though as alongside Lea-Gray, Ellie Ann Lowe and Charlotte Haines put in solo turns that evidence their vocal skills.

Elsewhere there’s acting that at times is clichéd beyond belief - and quite why the French soldiers speak with stereotyped accents that are straight out of ‘Allo ‘Allo defies comprehension. Just be grateful that Willmott didn't have his Spaniards speak like Manuel, the Fawlty Towers waiter. 

This all plays out on an imaginative set from Justin Williams and Jonny Rust, while Teddy Clements puts in sterling work on the keyboard to accompany the cast. And for those folk seeking a snatch of Bizet’s “hit tunes” (Willmott’s words) there’s a pre-recorded backing track (that’s disgracefully un-credited in the programme) to support the cast in choreographer Adam Haigh's toe-tapping flamenco-esque finale . Now That’s What I Call Carmen.

Runs until 10th March

Photo credit: Scott Rylander

Heartbreak House - Review

Union Theatre, London

***

Written by George Bernard Shaw

Directed by Phil Willmott

The Company

George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House, stylistically inspired by Anton Chekhov, was first performed in 1920. Set on the brink of the First World War, its message about the very real danger of political indifference chimes with today’s audience.

The story plays out across a single evening; Hesione Hushabye the lady of the namesake house has invited Ellie Dunn, her father and her fiancé to dinner, with Hushabye’s sister’s unexpected arrival further complicating the dynamics. Refreshingly, the dinner is not the focal point. Rather, the real draw is the mix of guests plucked from a wide cross-section of society – there is a capitalist, a bohemian, an aristocrat, the poverty-stricken and more – with what should give rise to intriguing interactions. 

The audience is privy to several social commentaries embedded in a narrative that revolves around each character’s own desires and selfish motives. We see a great deal of talk about the role of women – both in the home and wider society. There’s also some dissection of society’s composition and differences between the rich and the poor, bohemians and puritans, politically engaged and politically indifferent. 

However, Shaw’s script takes a while to get going and it’s only towards the end of the second act that the social commentary swells to a crescendo, by which point it’s all feeling a little too contrived. 

Nonetheless Wilmott has a solid cast working with this challenging script. JP Turner’s Boss Mangan is appropriately brash, Ben Porter makes for an endearing Mazzini Dunn and Mat Betteridge’s Hector Hushabye is a commanding presence.  Although James Horne’s portrayal of the simultaneously confused and shrewd Captain Shotover might seem slightly excessive at the outset, his gradual softening heightens the intrigue, making this a performance to watch. But Helen Anker’s standout performance as the effervescent Hesione Hushabye is the one to leave an imprint after the figurative curtain falls. 

The set design (Justin Williams and Johnny Rust) excels. Nestled in an archway beneath train tracks, the Union Theatre makes an ideal home for Heartbreak House. The result is a house façade that mirrors the nautical theme that runs throughout. The set stretches upwards, providing a clever birds nest-esque nook for Captain Shotover, lending further weight to his frequent godlike interjections into the conversations taking place below. Moreover, the overhead rumble of passing trains could pass for crashing waves, nicely complementing Philip Matejschuk’s sound design.

Much is packed into one evening and the heartbreak alluded to in the title is cleverly determined to be both of conventional and unconventional forms. Yet the play is ultimately held back by the playwright’s desire to say something of importance, rather than an actual delivery of a narrative via well-formed characters who interact with authenticity.

Ultimately though, with a message that is as relevant today as it was almost a hundred years ago, Heartbreak House remains a story worth retelling. 

Runs until 3rd February

Reviewed by Bhakti Gajjar

Photo credit: Scott Rylander

Exposure - Review

St James Theatre, London


**


Music, lyrics and book by Mike Dyer
Directed by Phil Willmott

The company

With a talented cast, fleshed out with the odd soap star and a top notch creative team, Exposure promised to be a night of lively, entertaining theatre. It was certainly lively, but that didn't save it from being entirely nonsensical and ridiculous. 

In the 12 years it took Dyer to write the book and having collaborated with as many composers, why did nobody sit the man down and let him know he was creating, possibly the most bizarre piece of theatre ever written.

The story, such as it is, follows Jimmy, (David Albury) a passionate photographer who has just returned from a harrowing assignment in the Sudan to take some PR shots of a pop princess (Niamh Perry) that he used to go to school with. Possibly (to many in the audience) one of the few good things about this show was that more often than not the ripped Albury was shirtless.

Jimmy is then introduced to the pop star's demonic manager, Miles Mason (Michael Greco), who at one point sings a song (entitled Miles Mason) about how hearing his own name gives him an erection - though to be honest, given Greco's inability to pronounce words clearly, the hardest part of the number was trying to discern the words at all.

Greco propositions our leading man to take paparazzi photographs of examples of the seven deadly sins. What follows is then some bizarre satanic battle in a London Underground inspired Hell. And somewhere in all of this madness Jimmy falls in love with a random homeless woman, Tara, (Natalie Anderson) who makes angels out of coke cans. 

The show’s truly impressive feature is Lindon Barr's choreography. The ensemble were incredibly tight and despite the ever changing story line, the movement in each scene was perfect. Barr should be proud of himself.

One doubts that this musical will be revisited any time soon - it may well have received too much exposure already.

Runs until 27th August

Reviewed by Charlotte Darcy

Photo credit Pamela Raith

Road Show - Review

Union Theatre, London


***


Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Directed by Phil Willmott

The Ensemble

Stephen Sondheim's Road Show pulls in to Union Street this week for a February residency. It's a curiously intriguing tale, part fact part fiction, inspired by the real life architect Addison Mizner, who with his brother Wilson, was to build the southern Florida city of Boca Raton, a development of luxurious haciendas, populated by America's wealthy elite.

Of course there's more to Sondheim than just property development - and as Addison finds himself drawn to his (fictional) gay and wealthy patron Hollis Bessemer, so does Willie lurch from gambling to prize fighters, to boxcar-riding destitution, before re-uniting with his brother to build the coastal city.

Whilst it’s certainly an imaginative production from Phil Wilmott, on occasions too much is left to our imagination. (Those screwed up balls of newspaper for instance?) An upstage framed gauze, suggesting vistas beyond our view, works well in the occasional back lighting of characters, but muffles the sound of those singing behind it. And in playing Addison, whilst Howard Jenkins captures his character's frustrating strive for integrity, he lacks a vocal impact, which for a lead role makes it hard for us to empathise with his journey. Andre Refig's Wilson meanwhile convinces us of his reptilian talents, the two brothers expressing a clearly inescapable sibling dependency. 

There are nuggets of excellence amongst the company. Steve Watts' Papa Meisner is an assured pater-familias with a deliciously sonorous tone - likewise the accomplished Christina Thornton who in an array of ensemble roles brings a touch of old-school class to her singing. Joshua Le Clair, impressive in last year's She Loves Me, does it again as Addison's effete "mark" Hollis, his big number Talent proving a treat. Also notable amongst the ensemble are Damian Robinson's prize fighter (blink and you'll miss it) and Amy Perry's Myra. Its early days here and if all the company were to emulate these actors' vocal power, the show will become a lot closer to the exciting roadster Sondheim intended it to be.

In a long haul (1hr 45 with no interval) Richard Baker's 3 piece band, playing virtually throughout, offer a fine if economic interpretation of the score - and credit too to Thomas Michael Voss' choreography. For the show’s big ensemble number Boca Raton and aided only by strong lights and sunglasses, his routine neatly suggests the privileged playground.

With a contemporary punch at the finale, Wilmott offers us food for thought. And in giving us a glimpse of some of tomorrow’s musical theatre talent, Road Show will certainly entertain Sondheim fans.

Runs until 5th March

Photo credit: Scott Rylander

Lear

Union Theatre, London

***

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Phil Willmott

Richard Derrington as the eyeless Gloucester

‘Tis the the season to re-interpret the bard. As a trimmed down Hamlet plays out in Hammersmith, so Phil Willmott’s Lear, precociously billed as “by William Shakespeare”, opens at the Union Theatre. This should be an innovative production as Willmott has deliberately removed “King” from the play’s title - his ageing monarch is a woman and if he had sought to leave it at that, then Ursula Mohan’s performance in the title role might just have given the show the strength it needed. But while Willmott's bow is bent and drawn, his Lear falls far short of the mark. The director’s treatment of the text will not only appal scholars, it may also baffle newcomers. Even knowing the play well, the hashed denouements of Willmott's truncation of Act 5 are a ghastly confusion in this production.

Staged in three sections, the first two being promenade and the final seated, the audience enter to the opening scene being an elegant modern day soiree, during which Lear divides her kingdom. The promenade concept (on press night at least) stuttered and rather than stroll and mingle around the confines of the Union space, most of the audience clung to the walls, some nervously clutching drinks, portentously suggesting the air of a party that has yet to get going. It didn’t really work, though Lear’s addressing a promenader with “cry you mercy, I took you for a joint stool”, in the trial scene did make for an unexpected chuckle.

Mohan’s monarch is a creditable effort though she never truly reaches that air of tragic majesty that a good Lear should inspire. Her Fool (neat work from Joseph Taylor) is portrayed as an NHS carer/nurse and hence there is a suggestion that from the outset her mind has long been flawed, which detracts from the impact of her early rages and at the close, rarely has Lear’s “Howl, howl, howl” at Cordelia’s death been so unmoving. To those who know the play, when Lear typically mourns his daughter with “Her voice was ever soft,” that Willmott has then cut the following line “Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman” smacks of a conveniently sexist expediency in his editing. 

The post-modern touches are everywhere. From an act one “selfie” of Lear with her daughters, to Edgar shooting up with heroin after Edmund manipulatively tells him to flee, to Stephen Harakis' Cornwall chopping a line of cocaine before the (rather gloriously bloody) gouging of Gloucester's eyes. Snorts of charlie notwithstanding, Willmott chops too vigorously and rather than Kent being banished, in this version the trusted courtier is axed completely. This is a cut too far, for Kent’s noble devotion to the King should present a thread of reasoned morality in a world gone crazy.

Undoubtedly flawed, Lear is nonetheless still worth seeing. Not just for other directors to observe how not to stage a promenade piece, but for some fine acting too. Richard Derrington’s officious Gloucester nails the bumbling yet brave nobility of the adulterous Earl, whilst Rikki Lawton’s illegitimate Edmund is a plausible bastard of a bastard. There is a tad too much pantomime in all three sisters’ performances but if Willmott can temper that into the run, it will be to the show’s advantage.

Off-West End productions continue to represent a pulsing heart of the capital’s theatre scene and bravo to Willmott and co and to the Union’s Sasha Regan for having the guts to mount this version. Wear comfortable shoes and be pro-active in moving around. Gloucester may have stumbled when he saw but you won’t, it’s worth the walk.

Runs until 28th June

Lost Boy

Charing Cross Theatre, London

***

Book, music and lyrics by Phil Willmott.
Arrangements and additional music by Mark Collins
Directed by Phil Willmott

Steven Butler

J M Barrie’s Peter Pan is currently proving the inspiration for many a new piece of theatre the most recent of which, Phil Willmott’s musical Lost Boy, has just transferred to the Charing Cross Theatre. Focusing on George Llewelyn-Davies (a stirring performance from Steven Butler), one of the real-life inspirations behind Pan and set during the First World War, Llewelyn-Davis dreams of being the boy that never grew up, poignantly considering the nightmare that his generation has to face, sent out to fight whilst on the cusp of adulthood. The audience is made aware of being taken on an “awfully big adventure” and as we begin this year that commemorates the centenary of the war’s outbreak, there is an enormous sense of foreboding as we are introduced to the story’s young boys. 

It's a brilliant concept and to begin with the 'grown up' versions of Barrie's beautifully crafted characters are entertaining, cleverly suggesting their Neverland charm. It quickly becomes apparent though that you can have too much of a good thing. Wilmott’s plotlines become too complex, finding little room for the development of the multitude of stories. 

That being said, the many subplots do provide the cast of 12 with an opportunity to showcase their talents. Joseph Taylor gives an enchanting Michael Darling, Joanna Woodward an impressively gutsy Tinkerbell and Richard James King sings, arguably the best song in the piece, 'Jungian Dream Analysis' displaying brilliant comic timing to re-inspire us at the opening of the second act. 

The music – executed brilliantly by Isaac McCullough’s on stage trio of keyboard, clarinet and cello – tries to marry together contemporary styles and sounds with Edwardian Music Hall. The two don’t integrate well but, again provide a platform for the talents in the cast and in the final moments of the show the sound of the youthful ensemble is powerfully moving.

Having just moved across London from the Finborough Theatre it’s apparent that the show has had an opportunity to grow. It’s a charming idea, with incredible potential and is a moving tribute to the lost boys of the Great War.

Runs until 15th February 2014