There are lots of musicals about depressing subjects. Since director Adam Lenson’s show is set in a struggling post-apocalypse community 300 years after an environmental catastrophe, it certainly ticks that box. Created by new company Timelapse, the piece is an impressive achievement. Trouble is that it’s just too damn disheartening.
The doom and gloom are a shame because the show itself isn’t bad. The scenario of survivors in a tower block isn’t original, nor is the idea of them enacting some kind of ceremony based on a mysterious ‘founder’, but it is executed well enough. Flashback scenes that add a romance (about a young couple who lived in the flats before floods and disease) are also good. But the ceremony involves expelling a community member and the love affair we look back at is falling apart – the grim is relentless. And, I’m sorry guys, but it’s nearly Christmas.
You can argue, of course it’s a downer and be confident pointing out that the future will be bleak. And the company, which isn’t trying to put on a panto, has important points to make about consumption and blame. There’s a sense that this is a show written by a generation that feels lost and fairly sure things are only going to get worse. But that doesn’t make the work itself interesting. Yes, the issues are laid out well, but they are tiresomely predictable. You can admire the attention drawn to things audience members take for granted (a song about sandwiches is a great example), but there’s no relief.
It’s all rather draining – and credit to an amazingly talented cast for not letting it drag them down. The characters are well rounded and the performances strong. Max Alexander-Taylor impresses as a kind of balladeer for the community. Isabella Marshall makes an interestingly flawed leader, while her protégé Piper is a great role for Melinda Orengo. Holly Freeman and Eric Stroud have double roles, swapping from the future setting to our present day with great skill. Everyone sounds great and performs multiple instruments.
Songs connected to the ceremony are the poorest with some deliberately gauche (albeit brave) touches backfiring. But there are good numbers – two after the interval are especially strong – and some inventive touches (such as using a siren as the basis for a number). The score also fits together intelligently. Nothing stands out quite enough, which is a further shame given the creativity clearly present.
To add to the frustration, Timelapse seems to know you need some hope in a musical. We are shown a sense of community, made to care about the characters and even given a suggestion that life outside the tower block might be possible. Which is a good thing since it looks as if this refuge is about to collapse. But any optimism – and there isn’t a lot – arrives too late. Quite simply, dystopia overwhelms the show.
Until 13 December 2025
www.newdiorama.com
Photo by Alex Brenner