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“Old Money” at the Hampstead Theatre

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Old Money, a new play by Sarah Wooley, marks the end of a fantastic year for Hampstead Theatre. Taking on this young writer is to Artistic Director Edward Hall’s credit; he’s spotted a quirky talent and a play full of fun, with serious points, that maybe a little rough around the edges, but is well worth watching. And that’s not to mention its star attraction – Maureen Lipman in fine form and not to be missed.

The story of three generations of women, Pearl, Joyce and Fiona, is rife with humorous conflict and includes a slight touch of fantasy. An unhealthy family triangle is complicated when Joyce becomes a widow and embraces her new freedom by making friends with a stripper. There have been plenty of dramas about baby boomers lately, but Wooley seems more interested in simply telling a good story – this is a tale of the unexpected and hugely entertaining.

It is not without problems. Everyone touched by the old money Joyce married into seems pretty objectionable – their selfishness seems hard to believe. And surely even the suburbs of Surrey aren’t quite as sheltered as Wooley makes out? The matriarch Faith’s hold over her daughter is dubious, while Joyce’s own spendthrift child Fiona seems bitter because she lives in a maisonette in Colliers Wood – bad, but not unbearable. As for the men in the piece, you start to suspect Wooley has some axe to grind in making them all so useless and unpleasant. But the problems aren’t all from Wooley’s script; surprisingly, the experienced director Terry Johnson seems flat-footed and fails to keep up the pace the play deserves.

However, Wooley’s humour is spot on, with plenty of laughs and observations that ring true. Best of all, the performances in Old Money are superb. Helen Ryan is a crowd-pleasing termagant and Tracy-Ann Oberman is superb as a grasping 40-something. Of course, it’s Lipman’s show and her character’s journey to fulfil long-delayed dreams, battling against various roles she is forced into, is performed wonderfully. The perfect comic timing we expect is there accompanied by breathless pauses and hesitations that show Lipman is in total control. Joyce isn’t an inspiring figure, the play is too complex for that, but Lipman makes her, and the play, very much alive.

Until 12 January 2013

www.hampsteadtheatre.com

Photo by Manuel Harlan

Written 6 December 2012 for The London Magazine

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“Goodnight Mister Tom” at the Phoenix Theatre

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Goodnight Mister Tom arrives in London’s Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road after strong reviews at Chichester and before embarking on a UK tour on 26 January. David Wood’s skilful adaptation of Michelle Magorian’s best-selling book about the relationship between a young evacuee and an elderly widower is a surprisingly challenging and dark tale that’s wonderfully theatrical and hugely entertaining.

Starting with Operation Pied Piper, in 1939, when nearly three million were evacuated from cities into the country, our hero William Beech is a troubled young boy from an abused home. His deeply shocking treatment at the hands of his own mother shoots through the sometimes sickly nostalgia of the piece to give it real bite. William is ‘billeted’ with a reclusive and curmudgeonly old man. It is, of course, their slowly warming relationship that makes Goodnight Mister Tom a tale of redemption for both of them.

The play’s two roles for children, William and his friend Zach, are both hugely demanding, and the youngsters performing on the press night, Ewan Harris and William Price, were impressive indeed, but praise has also to go to the creative teams and the adults in the cast who so skilfully support them. Angus Jackson’s clever direction, the clued-up ensemble who take on a variety of roles, and the clever use of puppetry from Toby Olié make Goodnight Mister Tom a slick affair. In the title role Oliver Ford Davies is marvellous and he has a rapport with his young co-star that will melt your heart.

Until 26 January 2013

www.atgtickets.com/phoenix

Photo by Catherine Ashmore

Written 28 November 2012 for The London Magazine

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“The Magistrate” at the National Theatre

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Stepping into a gap in the National Theatre’s schedule left by the cancellation of The Count of Monte Cristo, Timothy Sheader’s production of The Magistrate may be a last-minute stocking filler – but it doesn’t feel like one. Packed with laughs and polished to perfection, it’s a real gift for the Christmas season.

This is a theatrical achievement all the more impressive because Arthur Wing Pinero’s 1885 play isn’t all that great on the page. When Agatha marries Aeneas Posket, she lies about her age and turns her son, Cis, from a 19-year-old man into a 14-year-old boy. The ‘larks’ he gets up to drop the whole family, and any passing female, into deep water, forcing his new step-father, a Magistrate, to get involved. The exposition could be slow and the satire weak, but Sheader fills the show with energy, kicking it into life and giving the National’s last hit comedy, One Man, Two Guvnors, a run for its money.

Of course, comedy is all about timing and The Magistrate‘s wonderful cast excels at this: from the excellent Beverly Rudd, who shines in the small part of Popham the maid, to Jonathan Coy, who plays an Army Captain from Agatha’s past with enough bluster to steal a scene or two, and Joshua McGuire, who gets great laughs as the young son “swelling with agitation” as a result of the five years taken off his age. With so much talent on stage it seems that John Lithgow, who takes on the title role, needs to grow into his part a little – he’s certainly upstaged by his wife, played by Nancy Carroll, in absolutely fabulous style.

Musical interludes with lyrics by Richard Stilgoe (with a nod to Gilbert and Sullivan) add even more fun, and the sets from designer Katrina Lindsay are magnificent – pop-up fantasies that make the most of the Olivier stage, they hint at Christmas cards. But this show is so good that it’s not just for Christmas and should entertain for a long time afterwards.

Until 10 February 2013

www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Photo by Johan Persson

Written 23 November 2012 for The London Magzine

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“Sweet Smell of Success” at the Arcola Theatre

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The musicals staged in London’s fringe theatres are often excellent, but every now and again a real stunner comes along and, for now, the title of best musical on the fringe has to go to Sweet Smell of Success at the Arcola Theatre. Nominated for seven Tony Awards on Broadway, and receiving its UK premiere in Dalston, its director Mehmet Ergen has a real hit on his hands.

Based on an Ernest Lehman novella, which became a film in 1957, Sweet Smell of Success has society journalist JJ Hunsecker making and breaking careers at a time when “it’s not love that makes the world go around – it’s the word.” The year is 1952 and gossip, encompassing politics as well as celebrity, is hugely influential in an America where mass media and McCarthyism are at their height. JJ’s obsession with his younger sister Susan leads him to try and break up her relationship with a singer. Caught in the middle is the hero of the piece, Sidney Falcone, desperate for success as a press agent and dependent on JJ’s newspaper column for exposure.

This is smart musical for grown-ups. The cynical story has dark overtones of crime and corruption, with a bleak view of consumers only interested in the “dirt”. The jazz-inspired score by Marvin Hamlisch is fascinating, the lyrics by Craig Carnelia intelligent, and the book by John Guare fantastic. You don’t often get plots this strong in a musical and it should reach out to those the genre doesn’t normally appeal to. Ergen’s production takes advantage of all this: the sound is impressively big, with clear delivery, clever staging and adventurous choreography by Nathan M Wright.

If Sweet Smell of Success has a flaw it’s that it’s a little too cold to love unconditionally. Adrian der Gregorian does a good job of making Sidney appealing despite his Faustian pact and he has a terrific voice. But JJ is a little too repellent in David Bamber’s portrayal – he needs more charisma – and although some tricksy lines are dealt with expertly, Bamber isn’t a singer and you can’t help wondering what the role would be like if his voice were stronger.

Thankfully, the show has heart in the shape of the lovers JJ tries to part. As the success around them turns bitter, it is their relationship that becomes the focus of the show. Caroline Keiff is wonderful as Susan, struggling movingly for independence, and she has great chemistry with Stuart Matthew Price’s Dallas. It is the latter who will really win you over with a scrupulous performance and some stupendous singing that should not be missed.

Until 22 December 2012

www.arcolatheatre.com

Photo by Simon Annand

Written 15 November 2012 for The London Magazine

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“The Trojan Women” at the Gate Theatre

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In Caroline Bird’s new take on Euripedes’ tragedy, the aftermath of the Trojan War finds the “crème de la femme” of the former empire held captive in the mother and baby unit of a prison alongside an anonymous pregnant woman in the role of The Chorus. If someone in labour chained to a hospital bed offends your sensibilities, then avoid the Gate Theatre on this occasion – it’s just one of several shocks in Bird’s powerful, vicious and unsettling text.

This is writing filled with passion and profanity and it’s guaranteed to disturb and provoke. But it lacks control and, like the subject matter, often borders on the grotesque, while the occasional injection of humour, with a handful of funny lines, falls flat. While the Greeks didn’t hold back when it came to suffering in their tragedies, Bird seems determined to outdo them and Queen Hecuba’s traumas are added to by The Chorus, performed viscerally by Lucy Ellinson, reminding us that the poor are the real victims of any war. As a moral focus it’s admirable, but it makes The Trojan Women relentlessly harrowing.

Bird exposes the audience in merciless fashion, while Christopher Haydon’s direction and Jason Southgate’s impressive set add to the intensity. And the performances are faultless. Dearbhla Molloy makes the most out of a complex Hecuba who is steely-cold and thirsty for vengeance. But the star of the night is Louise Bradley who takes on three roles and manages to convince in all of them. Sadly, no matter how well Bird’s strategy is pursued she doesn’t quite add enough to the original to make this new version worth enduring.

Until 19 December 2012

www.gatetheatre.co.uk

Photo by Iona Firouzabadi

Written 13 November 2012 for The London Magazine

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“Lot and His God” at The Print Room

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Regardless of your religious view, as a repository of stories the Bible rates pretty near the top. But few writers have taken inspiration from it in quite the style of Howard Barker in his play Lot and His God, receiving its UK premiere at The Print Room in Notting Hill. A ‘re-imagining’ of the story from Genesis, about the destruction of Sodom and the fate of Lot of his family, Barker’s take is predictably outrageous – highlighting all that Old Testament fire and brimstone that nowadays makes nearly everyone uncomfortable.

Lot and His God is a complicated, demanding piece that you need to be wide-awake for. To get the most out of its references, get up to speed on Genesis before you head to the theatre. This play’s politics are as challenging as its dense poetic language and as a human drama it is compelling with its incessant power struggle between the characters. This is a sexy story of biblical wife-swapping with an angel who has a shoe fetish. It’s as bizarre as the original source material.

And spare a thought for the actors in Robyn Winfield-Smith’s fine production. Barker’s characterisation is deliberately stylised, and his script complex, but they rise to challenge. Justin Avoth has great presence as the Angel Drogheda and Mark Tandy is an articulate Lot presenting many of Barker’s arguments with a clarity that marks him as a performer in control. Hermione Gulliford, who plays Lots’ wife, comes close to stealing the show with as steely a grip on the men in her life as her stylish clutch bag, and a deadpan delivery that subtlety brings out the humour in the piece.

This hour-long play is full, rich and intriguing. Barker’s is a unique, important, voice and the intimacy of The Print Room is a great place to hear it. But for all its intelligence this work is fuelled by an intense anger against religion that is in danger of being alienating. This conversation with God should make you think, but may leave you feeling it’s an argument from which you’re being excluded.

Until 24 November 2012

www.the-print-room.org

Written 9 November 2012 for The London Magazine

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“Daddy Long Legs” at the St James Theatre

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A new musical version of Jean Webster’s novel is the second production at London’s newest venue, the stylish St James Theatre. Adapted and directed by John Caird, with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon, it’s the story of the Pygmalion transformation of orphan Jerusha Abbott by an anonymous sponsor she nick names Daddy Long Legs. Through letters she’s instructed to write, but to which he never replies, they fall in love. Predictable of course, but this show is so charming you won’t mind leaving your cynicism at the door and simply enjoying yourself.

Set aside any quibbles of this Gigi style adoption and romance between the older ‘daddy’ and his vulnerable dependent. Jerusha is such an appealing heroine, it’s not so much ‘thank heaven for little girls’ – but thank heavens for millionaires. She deserves her chances (and a nine-point plan for an arts education that Mr Gove should take note of). It’s easy to see why Jervis, the lonely beneficial bachelor, falls for her. Perhaps Jervis’ angst at the “little deceit” he perpetrates doesn’t quite convince and the resolution is a tad pat, but by the end you don’t just expect that – you want it. It would be a travesty if things didn’t end happily and it isn’t much of a plot spoiler to put your mind at ease.

Megan McGinnis gives a tremendous performance that ensures you fall in love with her character. Beneath the saccharine is a sharp mind that comments on snobbery and sexism with an ironic sensibility and a superb knack for building the show’s gentle humour. Jervis is less appealing, but Rob Hancock does well to show his character’s vulnerability. This is a tightly acted two-hander with accomplished singing of a sweet score with some delightful lyrics. Bringing the show, and roles they originated with them from America, McGinnis and Hancock are a well-practised team and it shows.

Daddy Long-Legs is unusually, refreshingly, innocent with two bibliophiles courting in old-fashioned style. As Jerusha discovers her emotions, and Jervis becomes some kind of Upper East Side Orlando pasting her letters to his study walls, you can’t help but wish them well. Daddy Long Legs should really be too corny to work but it’s a mark of its greatness that even the most jaded will be won over.

Until 8 December 2012

www.stjamestheatre.co.uk

Photo by Jeanne Tanner

Written 8 November 2012 for The London Magazine

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“Steel Pier” at the Union Theatre

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Well known for its excellent, ambitious productions of musicals, the Union Theatre’s latest offering is Kander and Ebb’s 1997 work Steel Pier. Directed by Paul Taylor-Mills, it’s a strange offering, superbly presented. Centring on a dance marathon in the 1930s, a group of semi-professional performers reveal their bitchy rivalry and needy posturing. The competition is a seedy affair, fixed, of course, that becomes increasingly humiliating and ends in medication for most participants. Our heroine Rita can only escape from it with the help of a very special, if unsuccessful, daredevil pilot.

Steel Pier is set on the fringes of celebrity but the cast at the Union Theatre is anything but mediocre. In the lead roles Sarah Galbraith and Jay Rincon, both visiting from the States, give fine performances. Singing unmiked, a real treat that makes the show worth seeing alone, they get the most out of songs that are a long way from Kander and Ebb’s finest. The excellent Aimie Atkinson has the show’s best number, ‘Everybody’s Girl’, and the best lines, managing to inject some much-needed humour. The large, hardworking cast is impressively marshalled by Taylor-Mills, and special note goes to Samuel Parker making a high-energy professional debut and Lisa-Anne Wood, who gives a spirited performance as the dancer most desperate to become a star.

Taylor-Mills combines the singing and dancing marvellously, making the most of Richard Jones’ excellent choreography. The show has such dazzle is almost manages to convince you this is a major work but, useful setting aside, the book by David Thompson, is lacking. The stakes played for – a moment in the spotlight or a chance of sponsorship – just aren’t high enough, and a supernatural twist, exploited well by Jones and musical director Angharad Sanders, adds little. Despite the best efforts of all involved, Steel Pier is something of a curio – essential for fans of musical theatre – but not stainless enough to appeal to everyone.

Until 24 November 2012

www.uniontheatre.biz

Photo by Claire Bilyard

Written 7 November 2012 for The London Magazine

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“Victor/Victoria” at the Southwark Playhouse

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Blake Edwards’ joyous, gender-bending musical comedy – with music and lyrics by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse – is sure to please. The story of a soprano who disguises herself as a man performing in drag, Thom Southerland’s new production at the Southwark Playhouse, is a bold rendering full of expert touches and an abundance of talent.

Staged in traverse, and superbly designed by Martin Thomas, Southerland and his choreographer Lee Proud make the most of the show’s cabaret numbers. No tunnel under London Bridge ever looked this good; it’s a most welcoming cabaret, with a fantastic atmosphere from start to finish.

Taking the title role, Anna Francolini makes the most of this star vehicle and her performance has an emotional edge that is genuinely affecting. It helps that she sounds fantastic, too, and can deliver a tricky dance routine. The show stopping numbers, Le Jazz Hot! and Louis Says, are a  delight and the ensemble are superb.

Matthew Curtis plays her love interest who, Orsino-like, is puzzled by his desire for the ‘man’ he sees on stage. Curtis delivers his challenging solo number marvellously. But it’s Victor/Victoria’s impresario and best friend, performed by Richard Dempsey, who steals the show. Camp as Christmas and loving every gloriously silly moment, the incorrigible, Shakespeare-quoting, “Toddy” charms all and gets the loudest guffaw I’ve heard in the theatre this year. But, I won’t spoil the joke – buy a ticket to make sure you don’t miss it.

Until 15 December 2012

www.southwarkplayhouse.org

Written 2 November 2012 for The London Magazine

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“NSFW” at the Royal Court

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The name of Lucy Kirkwood’s new play for the Royal Court stands for ‘Not Safe For Work’. Set in the bitchy world of London media, it comes as no surprise that there’s little that’s safe in these particular offices. This sharp satire invites the theatre audience into an industry where employees will agree all too quickly to be humiliated, or compromise their private lives, in order to get ahead or simply stay in the job. To those who’ve never worked in magazine journalism it’s a delicious parody full of laughs; for those who have, it’s painfully close to the bone.

Kirkwood’s play has the benefit of skilful direction from Simon Godwin and superb performances. The magazine editor characters have something of the stereotype about them, but this potential problem is dealt with nimbly, thanks to sharp dialogue that means the play never strays into lazy parody. Julian Barratt and Janie Dee both excel as the “troglodyte” editor of a men’s magazine and the self-confessed “Menopausal old hag” who works for an over-sharing womens title, respectively. The younger characters, desperate for work and predictably overqualified, are wonderfully drawn: Henry Lloyd-Hughes gives a great comic turn as the trustafarian drawn to journalism, Esther Smith expertly judges her role as a young feminist so ashamed of her job she tells people she’s an estate agent, and Sacha Dhawan gives a performance of great charm as an idealist who finds that, in this job, he can’t avoid getting his hands mucky.

Of course, nobody finds the media as interesting as the industry finds itself. Thankfully, Kirkwood’s play uses magazine culture to address broader social concerns. The presentation of women in the media, in particular, is handled in nuanced, thought-provoking style here. While the plight of the younger characters, with whom the play’s sympathies so firmly lie, gives a dark edge and subtlety and balances NSFW’s exquisite portrayal of the excesses of journalism.

Until 24 November 2012

www.royalcourttheatre.com

Written 1 November 2012 for The London Magazine