A More General Review

I considered today, that despite the privelage of seeing a numerous amount of shows a month to review, I still spend considerable time and money trying to make it to those special shows. I'm not ashamed to admit, Jekyll and Hyde is in my top 5 musicals (along with Phantom, Beauty and the Beast and...well anyway) and would have done anything to see it again at the Southwark Playhouse before it closes. I went to buy tickets only to discover that of course, it's sold out. And so it should be. But althought I've already seen it, it absolutely crushed me that I couldn't see it again. And this has prompted this blog post: what are those few shows that have stayed with me? And why?

MAY 2012: Jekyll and Hyde
This was just such a brave production, Morphic Graffiti absolutely pulled off an update and you know what? The little things which may have gone wrong here and there just didn't matter because this cast and crew finally did this stupendous musical justice!

MAY 2012: Misterman
There are few words I could use that could really evoke the brilliance of this production. After Ivanov, I'd say it's the best thing I've seen in the theatre to date. Rarely have I seen such astounding acting or compelling direction. I honestly cared for the protagonist in this production.

JAN 2012: 13
I didn't give this 5 stars. But this was such an important production for me. I have never ever ever been so politically moved by a play as this, I NEEDED to stand up and shout yes, agree with the character of John and hopefully lead a revolution, take the audience out into the streets preaching Bartlett's play. Now that's something.

There is a gap here between when I started reviewing, then found school required a little more of my attention than theatre, and then found theatre was my life and couldn't be more important than uni. And... my days were mostly filled by the Lord Of The Rings Musical which I never reviewed. There would be too much to say, I thought this was spectacular, I know a lot of people don't, especially purists, but it touched every heartstring, was beautiful, sounded beautiful. It was something otherworldly I doubt I'll find again.

FEB 2009: Three Days of Rain
This was another example of ACTING. When I write a play, I have to imagine the acting because the acting is half of the play. My words are nothing without the likes of actors like these.

JAN 2009: The Frontline
It's around this time I was beginning to see plays and realised dammit I loved them. The Frontline spoke to me as a Londoner, even as a newcomer to theatreland I could tell Walker was innovative with his speech, I was drawn into every character, every story, listened to every word like a willing puppet. That's storytelling. That was relative.

JAN 2009: Ivanov
It all began here. I'm adamant my review of this got me through GCSE and into drama school by making me look intellectual. The thing with Chekhov is it isn't about being intellectual, some of the conditions remain topical, some don't, but with this, my first heady clash with naturalism I learnt to believe. To this day, I've yet to cry so much in a theatre as during this, and this is because Branagh WAS Ivanov. THE most stupendous acting I've seen to date.

An interesting fact (a fact for companies to fear about this reviewer): I very, very, rarely give a standing ovation. It has to be out. of. this. world. for me to do this. It's not a case of being frigid about showing companies praise for their productions, I can see why shows that I'd consider four star deserve a standing ovation a lot of the time. It's simply my method of separating the men from the boys as it were.If I look back and think of the shows which I stood for I think of the shows which truly touched me. It's important I do this so that I can remember those stellar examples of why I do what I do, and what makes theatre magical for me.

Jekyll and Hyde *****

Photo Credit: Katherine James

Jekyll and Hyde is a favourite musical for a lot of people, including myself, so it’s a brave move to take something so firmly set in the Victorian era and bring it into the twenty-first century. Half of the time, an update hits several walls, so it’s a testament to this production that not only is Wildhorn and Bricusse’s musical popular enough to warrant an update, but that Director Luke Fredericks successfully achieves it.

The musical isn’t wholly true to the novel (if you’re unaware of the storyline, a Doctor experiments upon himself to invent a drug to control the evil side of human nature, but finds himself unleashing it instead). A subplot is invented between Jekyll/Hyde and a prostitute, Lucy (played brilliantly by Madalena Alberto if you ignore the indeterminate accent). The heartfelt stories of Lucy and her love rival, Emma Carew (sung beautifully by Joanna Strand), were responsible for a few tears being shed. Updating these characters has made them seem more three-dimensional, and lends a particular grittiness to the roles.

The intimacy of their stories contrasts with the ferocity with which Tim Rogers plays Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde. Rogers’s dichotomy of character is expertly played; his Hyde in particular is darkly enigmatic and well physicalised. Jekyll and Hyde is a difficult show to direct, belief in the story depends a lot upon how the transformation of Jekyll/Hyde is portrayed, and Fredericks’s simple choices combined with Rogers’s acting were a thousand times more effective than other productions I’ve seen, which have rested on spectacle and costume. Catherine Webb’s use of torchlight and washes, and the fuzzy production of Ben Walden’s video projections, combined to create the menacing atmosphere of the gothic novel.

Updating it is surprisingly easy: Jekyll’s proposal is made to an NHS medical body and his diary is written on a Mac. The slightly stoned portrayal of Lucy also brings a true sadness to the role. The multiplicity of personas in the chorus is more relatable than the very thin divide of simply rich and poor. The staging is fast-paced, and the chorus especially precise. At times however, I think it tries too hard to be busy where there is enough intensity emanating from the excellent soloists, and the scene should focus upon them.

What makes this production of Jekyll and Hyde so hard-hitting is the use of space in the little Union Theatre. Although there were a few foibles with the set which sadly keep it from perfection, it is otherwise innovatively used: the breaking of the fourth wall and being so close you can really see into Rogers’s tormented eyes brings vivacity and reality to this production. This is complemented wonderfully by Dean Austin’s full sounding arrangement of the score, and Stewart Charlesworth’s hardy, grim set.

Charlesworth, Austin and Fredericks’s company Morphic Graffiti turns a traditional musical which has always had the potential to be something more, into just that. It’s slick and sinister: a deliciously wicked piece of theatre.

Jekyll and Hyde is playing at the Union Theatre until 16 June.