Tag Archives: Southwark Playhouse

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“Who is Claude Cahun?” at the Southwark Playhouse

The titular artist who is the subject of DR Hill’s play has only received attention relatively recently. Speculation about Claude Cahun’s sexuality and gender has appeal for academics, while her life makes for an interesting story. From Paris in the 1930s to resistance work in occupied Jersey during World War II, this is a story worth telling. It is a great shame that here, despite a lot of effort, that it is not told well.

Rivkah Bunker, who takes the title role, and Amelia Armande, who plays Cahun’s partner Marcel Moore, are hampered by a script that is both worthy and wooden. Maybe Hill has read the anti-war messages his subjects wrote as a form of protest too often – there were posters and banners, as well as writing secreted in magazines and even on cigarette papers. But surely, Cahun and Moore didn’t speak like that in real life. The problem is compounded by an eye on theory – the word ‘identity’ is used far too often – which takes us out of the world of the play. Nearly all the dialogue is poor. Lines such as “open up, it’s the Gestapo” are close to embarrassing. 

There is no shortage of ideas in the piece. Juliette Demoulin’s set is effective and the video design by Jeffrey Choy uses Cahun’s artwork well. Director David Furlong highlights movement a lot and manages to create some intriguing moments, inspired by Cahun’s performance work, expressing intimacy and emotion. But there is a reliance on presenting Cahun as a troubled genius. Too much background information is taken for granted, with a difficult childhood and time in a chauvinistic Paris presented in short scenes that are hard to digest. The trio that makes up the remaining cast – Gethin Alderman, Ben Bela Böhm and Sharon Drain – are overworked and the results unpleasant. There are a lot of accents and poor attempts at establishing weakly written characters.

Things improve… a little. As the Resistance work becomes riskier, causing concern to the paranoid Germans, Cahun and Moore are captured and undergo interrogation, imprisonment and almost execution. At times it is hard to believe they were taken so seriously (the “Soldier with no name” Cahun took as her identity was presumed to be German and part of a whole terrorist cell). But it really is a compelling story and that Cahun’s confession was not believed a fine touch.

Again, though, the delivery isn’t strong enough. Bringing out farcical moments is a good idea. Like the art Cahun left behind in Paris, you might say the situation was surreal. But the comedy lacks bite and detracts from the tension. Furlong tries to keep up a pace, but the effect is clumsy. There’s a final twist that is strong. In the search for who Cahun is, do we forget the identity of their companion? It’s Moore’s photography that has made Cahun memorable, yet her name is even less well known. Such insight into the perils of biography is admirable, but not enough to compensate for so many mistakes.

Until 12 July 2025

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by Paddy Gormley

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“The Frogs” at the Southwark Playhouse

Fans of Stephen Sondheim – and I’m one – are lucky right now. His last work, Here We Are, is playing at the National Theatre while this show has been revived in spirited style by director Georgie Rankcom. There’s fun to be had with comparisons or, to be frank, shared problems. But this is another part of the canon it is wonderful to get the chance to see. And fan or not, The Frogs is smart, fun and well-executed.

Like all Sondheim’s work, The Frogs is inspired by… a lot. There’s the play by Aristophanes, adapted “freely” by Burt Shevelove, then “even more freely” by Nathan Lane, and at each stage given Sondheim’s spin. And it’s a show with a long, somewhat convoluted genesis. Rather brilliantly, as it involves a journey on the River Styx, it starts in a swimming pool!

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Dan Buckley and Kevin McHale

A lot depends on the leads Dionysos and his slave Xanthias, who journey to Hades to save the world through art. The plan, to bring George Bernard Shaw back to Earth, is suitably kooky. Dan Buckley and Kevin McHale, who take the parts, are up to the job, sounding great and making an excellent comedy duo. The metatheatricality and the message in the show are generally overdone, but with these two the touch is, thankfully, light.

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Martha Pothen as George Bernard Shaw

Their adventures are accompanied by a talented ensemble who also double as extra characters. Joaquin Pedro Valdes stands out as Herakles and Martha Pothen as Shaw. The structure is simple enough, but the pace slows too often. Thankfully, the music is a delight. From the jolly refrain ‘I Love To Travel’, to a melancholic number, ‘It’s Only A Play’, the songs are Sondheim quality, and you can’t give higher praise than that.

Still, given Sondheim’s back catalogue, there’s some disappointment. The Frogs feels heavy-handed. Even the lyrics, although always smart, are a little blunt. And a final contest (apparently agon is the term) between Shaw and Shakespeare is far too lengthy. The point is interesting enough: do we need Shavian “great abstractions” or the bard’s poetry? Pothen and Bart Lambert (as Will) do well. But the outcome is predictable (who really wants an “orgy of Georgie”?) and preachy.

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Victoria Scone stars as Pluto

There is a strong sense of musical revue about the show (it started out at Yale) that suits the venue and that Rankcom cleverly leans into. Dance numbers, difficult in such a small space, showcase choreographer Matt Nicholson’s talents and add energy – the “web-footed debauchery” of the titular amphibians is a hoot. And having a special guest as Pluto is a great idea (until 31 May it’s Victoria Scone and very good she is, too).

The variety of the score and the broad humour are all embraced, with lots of good gags based around Greek myths (apparently Viagra is the god of perseverance). It’s on a wider level, with Sondheim reviewing the state of the world, that problems arise. A touch of the classroom carries the potential to defeat the argument and instruction that we should all get angry and act. Maybe it’s more generous to say that the show’s sense of urgency overwhelms it? At least there is fun as well as conviction here.

Until 28 June 2025

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Pamela Raith

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“Midnight Cowboy” at the Southwark Playhouse 

Musicals adapted from movies are usually a safe bet. But of the many screen-to-stage shows, using John Schlesinger’s 1969 film is surely a surprise. None other than Bryony Lavery has taken on the task but, unfortunately, the level of effort needed shows. It would be nice to award marks for originality, for taking a risk, but it turns out the idea is a bad one.

It is stressed that this is an adaptation of the book, by James Leo Herlihy, as much as the film. In which case, dropping the snatches of music associated with the movie might have been better, because the show relies on the audience knowing the premise of young misfit Joe Buck coming to New York to work as a gigolo. True, there’s an element of fever dream in Midnight Cowboy, with poverty and drugs fuelling chaos. But the descent to hell is confused as well as relentless.

It’s probably best to leave aside the morals in the story. Are we really OK with having a violent sex worker and his pimp as any kind of hero? The latter is his only friend in New York, a desperate conman called Ratso with a troubled past. The story is bleak to the point of misery porn. The whole show has the puzzling move of inserting humour into the situation: yes, Joe is the world’s worst hustler, and Ratso is oddly endearing, but are laughs appropriate here?

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Max Bowden

The performances are best described as brave. Tori Allen-Martin does well as two very different women, Matthew White and Rohan Tickell have intense roles as two male clients that they make memorable. Max Bowden’s Ratso is admirably complex, he is the only fleshed out character. Paul Jacob French certainly looks the part of Joe, and has the moves, but this is a very tricky role; we can see Joe is clueless, oddly blank, and the depiction follows this. Joe’s job makes him a figure people project onto, so a connection to him is difficult. This problem is complicated by the flashbacks that are supposed to fill Joe out (many of which are hard to hear). Despite all this, Bowden and French make their chemistry clear – no small achievement.

As for the music, written by Francis “Eg” White, the songs are good (the main number is a fantastic, emotional ear worm) but there aren’t enough of them, and they don’t build to anything significant. The delivery is sometimes timid. Again, it’s easy to commend how brave a lot of this is – sex and murder during musical numbers is bold – but the courage doesn’t make it work.

If I had to guess what’s gone wrong, it might be the stress on dreams: Joe’s ambitions, Ratso’s hopes, and various sexual fantasies. But there might be tension here too. Oddly, with little sense of place or time, we miss addressing that big old theme of the American Dream. Thankfully, some of the staging is impressive, the scene changes are good, likewise the projections and lighting. Director Nick Winston’s skills as a choreographer are clear and could have been showcased more. But none of this is enough to save the show from its morbid streak. If I didn’t know better, I’d think we’ve finally found a movie that doesn’t work as a musical.

Until 17 May 2025

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Pamela Raith

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“The Devil May Care” at the Southwark Playhouse

Mark Giesser’s adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s 1897 play, The Devil’s Disciple, is interesting, if flawed. The action is moved from Revolutionary America to the Philippine-American War which started at the turn of the 20th century. It’s a period of history I confess is new to me but parallels with the British Empire and American interventionism, which I’d guess Shaw would like, are thought-provoking.

There are moments when Giesser’s treatment is brash. Scenes that show politicians campaigning share a tub-thumping quality the writing is trying to criticise. And a satire on the American press abroad is too shouty to be funny. But Giesser’s own direction makes the action clear. And the cast members get to show their strengths taking on an awful lot of extra roles. Richard Lynson, who performs as a vicar and General MacArthur, deserves highlighting, brilliantly switching characters and bringing out intriguing parallels.

The idea of changing the setting doesn’t detract from Shaw. So, how much you enjoy the show will depend on how you feel about the original. The piece is a family drama, a romance, and a moral conundrum all mashed up. Plenty to enjoy or too much of a mix seem equally valid responses. And it all arrives at speed, with many of the characters’ reactions rushed and plenty of the paradoxes Shaw liked to underscore on offer.

The Conroe family who the action revolves around are a (too) strange bunch, pretty much all unlikeable. The mother and one son, who is in the military, seem happy following a plan from the black sheep of the family, Richard, to take the place of the vicar and be executed for helping local rebels. The fact that motives are vague is partly the point. The dark humour around the situation builds – the scene of Richard’s kangaroo trial is good – but the production isn’t quite witty enough overall.

Giesser has the sensible idea of emphasising the strong female roles so that Jill Greenacre, as a formidable matriarch, has some good lines. And a biracial step-niece is a role managed very well by Izyan Hay, who makes the most of her character’s brief backstory. There are problems for Beth Burrows as the vicar’s wife, though. Making her a lawyer who cannot practice because she’s a woman is a complication too far (bear in mind she is English yet dealing with American martial law).

Burrows is also the show’s love interest – a further tricky call. It’s a little odd, or maybe Shavian, that the struggling marriage is more interesting than the new romance we see. Burrows gets more sense of emotional conflict into one short scene with her husband than anyone else manages in the whole play. Her character’s potential affair is with Richard and may – or may not – be a motive for his self-sacrifice. It’s really only with Richard, who gives the original play its title, that the show comes together. The self-proclaimed Satanist, an arms dealer and general ne’er-do- well, makes a great role for Callum Woodhouse, who brings neat touches of understatement to the part: he is funny, charming but also biting and cynical. Woodhouse carries the show. Shaw’s philosophising villain is fascinating but, regrettably, not quite enough to save the night.

Until 1 February 2025

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

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“[title of show]” at the Southwark Playhouse

Billed as a meta-musical – pretending to depict its writers workshopping and staging the show as we watch it – there is plenty of self-appraisal within Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell’s piece. [title of show] (they are still working out what to call it) states pretty much anything bad you can say about it out loud, and often. I wonder if this makes the piece critic-proof?

It is pointed out that there are lots of obscure Broadway references (one number is based on the titles of flops), so knowledge about the construction of songs and shows really helps to get the jokes. And with self-deprecating satire, Bowen and Bell point out the dangers of all this: the “derivative tricks and the critical undertow” that come with their project. As artists, they want to “ask significant questions” with their songs – there’s a lot about the highs and lows of creativity. But whatever is said comes with the threat of being contrived.

In fact, there’s plenty of skill needed to pull off the concept driving the show. Here’s where the reviewer can address performances and note that the songs are excellent showcase material. Jacob Fowler and Thomas Oxley (I think you can guess their characters’ names) give the roles suitably strong personalities. Abbie Budden and Mary Moore, playing Heidi and Susan, are the “secondary characters” (that’s their description) who have the best numbers. The comedy could be handled less effortfully (it’s good enough) but all four sing wonderfully. And Bowen’s songs aren’t easy. Even if there’s just a piano (props to musical director Tom Chippendale who I’m glad gets to speak), the score is clever and complex.

Most importantly, the cast and director Christopher D Clegg have to make the show feel fresh. Adding the touches of chaos that are demanded from the self-consciously kookie lyrics isn’t easy and the quartet’s energy is fantastic. Nor is it easy giving an improvised air when we all know (don’t we?) the show was a hit back in 2006.

Many have been excited by this long overdue London première. As Bowen and Bell well know, this is a show for the theatre kid and the “Show-mo”. But it is “fun times with friends” with admirable conviction, focusing on the collaborative making of a musical, and the community that comes to watch. [title of show] knows it’s for a clique, but it enjoys that fact… There’s even a song about it.

Until 30 November 2024

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by Danny Kaan

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“The Ungodly” at the Southwark Playhouse

Witches often make good drama and Joanna Carrick’s new play, set in 1645, is part of a trend to intelligently appraise the phenomena. The focus is a family who think of themselves as the victims of witchcraft – parents who have lost their children and a troubled youth who becomes radicalised into a self-appointed ‘witch finder general’.

Carrick also directs, and shows great skill dealing with the period and the play’s basis in fact. The dialogue is treated lightly and convinces as a result. It isn’t easy to show Puritans on stage nowadays, but the cast – Nadia Jackson, Christopher Ashman and Vincent Moisy, who play wife, husband and brother respectively – all bring sincerity to their characters’ religious convictions. Faith is part of the everyday life of the household, and it is easy to see how it comes to influence them.

Time is taken over events. The couple, Susan and Richard, are suspicious about supernatural claims and at first try to calm their younger relation, Matthew. Jackson and Ashman have great chemistry and scenes of their courtship are charming. Moisy endears as a stuttering young man lacking confidence. It’s only when grief overtakes the family, with superb scenes for Jackson, that they become susceptible to superstition. The Ungodly isn’t spooky… it’s sad. And scary because we see what happens to these good people.

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We do get to meet a real victim – a small but smashing part for Rei Mordue as a young girl accused of witchcraft. There are powerful interrogation scenes, and some big themes of justice and revenge tackled with skill. Moisy might hold back more, but the confusion and dynamism of the ‘investigation’ in progress is handled expertly. Jackson shows Susan consumed with anger, while Ashman has Richard struggling to retain his sense of self.

The Ungodly takes a far more ‘traditional’ approach to its subject than the recent Gunter, produced by Dirty Hare. As with another show from earlier this year, Talene Monahon’s The Good John Proctor, the play owes a good deal to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. But this is all good company to keep. Carrick’s historical drama feels deep and deserves praise.

Until 16 November 204

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Bernie Totten

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“Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon” at the Garrick Theatre

Rosie Day’s play, which is being adapted for TV and has an accompanying book, is an effective summation of current teenage concerns. The piece is hard-hitting and, appropriately, didactic. Under the direction of Georgie Staight, this limited-run production is impressively slick, and the show is a great vehicle for its star, Charithra Chandran.

We meet Eileen just after her sister, Chloe, has died. Day writes about grief in a sensitive and detailed manner. But the cause of death – anorexia – is given just as much attention. How both affect the whole family and their mental health is explored. And Eileen’s life doesn’t stop because her sibling is dead. She has other problems, including making friends, finding love and earning Scout badges.

It’s a lot, but then so is being a teenager. There are touches of humour, a few impressively dark, but sincerity and authenticity are the order of the day. Thankfully, Day doesn’t make Eileen too mature (an essential key to the play’s success). And the momentum of the show is controlled expertly by Staight. It’s clear from the start that Eileen cares more than she lets on… but it’s still heart-wrenching to realise how tough things are.

With important themes and plenty of drama, the piece is an intense challenge as an 80-minute monologue, but Chandran is superb. She isn’t quite alone. There are also voiceovers and video clips, which prove are the least successful part of the production. Section introductions from Sensible Scout Leader Susan (Maxine Peake, no less) are more than enough to break up the action. And Chandran is heavily miked (although initial feedback was corrected quickly, this is distracting). I’m just not sure any extras are needed. Chandran can hold a stage and tells the story well.

Indeed, for some, the performance will be the most enjoyable part of Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon. To see an actor so in control of material is always a pleasure. For the more jaded, coming-of-age dramas can… lack drama. But the stakes here are high, and Eileen’s encounter with a predatory older man is particularly distressing. Still, there are no surprises, even if it’s all well targeted.

The show’s move to the West End, having started out at Southwark Playhouse, is to be celebrated. It’s great to see a transfer like this, with Day’s and Staight’s skill and hard work rewarded. I’ve no doubt the play will mean a lot to many – it deserves to.

Two performances, every Sunday until 28 April 2024

www.thegarricktheatre.co.uk

Photo by Danny Kaan

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“Dumbledore is So Gay” at the Southwark Playhouse

Robert Holtom’s short play is, undeniably, niche – the audience demographic is specific. It looks at the youthful experiences of three friends who are Harry Potter fans, so it helps to know the franchise. And the show’s origins on the fringe, at the excellent Vault Festival, are clear, with fun had at the limited cast numbers. But within what some might see as constraints, the piece is strong: focused, solidly written, well-performed and with original touches.

Jack, who is gay, deals with bullying and a girlfriend while having a crush on his best friend. The focus is homophobia (the title comes from schoolyard slurs). Holtom writes insightfully about prejudice, highlighting small insults as well as big threats. An older offstage character called Norman is particularly well thought out. The outcome of the aggression experienced is moving. And, impressively, there is a focus into the damage that internalising hatred can cause.

In case this sounds worthy, it should be stressed that Dumbledore is So Gay is funny (particularly if you’re part of the fandom). The cast are strong comics and director Tom Wright knows this is one of the show’s strengths. There are the “drunken kisses” you might expect, which are sweet. When the actors double up as parents or teachers there’s even more fun. Close observations lead to lots of nodding in the audience.

Now for the twist… Jack can travel back in time (again, something from Harry Potter), so Holtom offers different versions of a coming out and coming-of-age story. Taking the lead, Alex Britt shows subtlety in the variations of this – a smart move. The conceit also means that Jack’s friends Gemma and Oli have characters fuller than might be expected, making strong roles for Charlotte Dowding and Martin Sarreal, who are also superb.

The different scenarios are increasingly positive without feeling forced. The fact that all three characters “deserve to be happy” is plenty – rather than prescribing what that happiness should be. Holtom makes a point of being positive, so you’re sure to leave feeling good. It’s a big achievement for a small show.

Until 23 September 2023

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by David Jenson

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“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” at the Southwark Playhouse

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story about a man who ages backwards is brought to the theatre with commendably little fuss. Nothing is unstageable, but the mind-boggling idea here is handled lightly by relying on the great skill of Jamie Parker who takes the title role. And the adaptation has another surprise – the story is now a musical.

The folk music, by Darren Clark, inspired by the Cornish setting of the story, is great. The sound is impressively large, and it isn’t too fanciful to say the sea is the inspiration: the music roars but also comforts, rages and lulls. The tunes have instant appeal and boast moments wistful and toe tapping. The songs do follow a formula that might prove repetitious on a soundtrack but works well live. As for the performances – they are very special.

The show uses a dozen actor musicians who all embrace the chance to show off a variety of characters while sounding fantastic. Such talent often impresses, but I lost count of how many times this lot changes instruments. And the choreography is ambitious too; Chi-San Howard should be proud. Everyone weaves around the stage beautifully in Jethro Compton’s assured direction, working with fluidity and confidence.

The technique of using the cast as narrators is overused, though. And there’s too much detail: telling us the date, or how much time has passed, or highlighting a “chain of events” – each is handled cleverly – but all feature too often. The show’s strong ideas end up tainted by being repeated.

As a contrast, you couldn’t get enough of Parker. Depicting Button getting younger with great skill is never overstated. It’s an emotional performance that aids the show immeasurably. And Parker is helped by his co-stars, especially the strong work from his character’s mother and wife, played by Philippa Hogg and Molly Osborne.

Hopefully it isn’t too much of a plot spoiler to reveal that Button’s mother ends up committing suicide – it’s important to know that the show has dark moments. It could be a problem for Compton’s book that the conclusion is a downer. Button has his unhappy end pointed out to him from the start – defying his father is part of the point. Efforts to show this “little life” as a kind of triumph don’t quite convince, the show’s energy runs down. After such strong work, with so much to recommend it, it is odd to leave the theatre deflated. But the piece is undoubtedly moving and the work here top notch.

Until 1 July 2023

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by Juan Coolio

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“Macbeth” at the Southwark Playhouse

Flabbergast Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s tragedy is a brave failure. The show is full of arresting imagery and committed performances – it is bold from start to finish. But a central conceit is hard to pin down and uncomfortably constraining… Macbeth in a madhouse seems close to describing what’s going on. That the idea turns out less interesting than it sounds is a shame, given the tremendous effort of all involved.

Linking Macbeth to insanity isn’t a bad idea. Fits are mentioned, there are famous hallucinations, and the banqueting scene is ripe for such an interpretation. Can the witches be mad? Of course, they’ve been everything else in various productions. And the suggestion that Banquo’s murderer is schizophrenic is a good touch. But the whole idea does, forgive me, straitjacket the play. It’s scary and unpredictable (an achievement of sorts) but it is hard to take the drama seriously as connections between the characters are severed. While the ensemble work together well, the characters seem isolated in individual trauma.

Henry Maynard’s direction is aided by work with movement from Matej Majeka which is often interesting.  The whole ensemble impress, not least with some of their backbends. Everyone is on stage a lot and never loses focus. The musical arrangements from Adam Clifford make great use of percussion and the ensemble are a good choir. The small amount of puppetry that features is worth noting. But every aspect of the show is exaggerated and that turns into a serious flaw.

There are technical problems too. The production fails to consider the venue’s thrust stage so that two thirds of the audience are ignored too often. Above all, hearing what anyone is saying is very difficult. Taking the lead role, Maynard tries hard but it is really only Kyll Thomas-Cole’s Malcolm we get to hear properly. There’s no way you’d know what was going on without a thorough knowledge of the play and while the company can be proud of its energy, that makes the effort here wasted.

Until 8 April 2023

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by Picturegrafix