LOVE - THE MUSICAL to 21st June 2008
Love – The Musical
Created by Gísli Örn Gardarsson and Víkingur Kristjánsson, Adapted by David Farr
Music by Palmi Sigurhjartarson
Lyric Hammersmith, Lyric Square, King St, London W6 0QL
Mon to Sat 19:30 Mat Wed 13:30 and Sat 14:30
Runs 1hr 50 mins
http://www.lyric.co.uk
Tickets: 0871 22 117 29
Review: Geoff Ambler 10th June 2008
Love for the old in a show for all ages.
Love- The Musical is one of the most surprising musicals that I’ve seen this year. Opening in the chaos of an old song sing along, it quickly reveals its heart and from there on, never holds back on emotion. Set in an old folks home, with a cast of astounding senior amateurs mixed with accomplished professionals, this tale of a blossoming romance between Margaret and Neville is captivating, charming and incredibly moving.
Anne Calder-Marshall’s widowed Margaret is dumped into the home by her son Adam when she becomes unable to care for herself after breaking her arm. Fellow in-mate Neville, played by Julian Curry, charms her into leaving for a night of theatre, dance and food that isn’t institutionalised pilchards, followed by a little passion. Rather than expressing delight at his mother finding someone new, late on in life to replace her loneliness, he declares “I just don’t want to have to worry about you.”
The home cares for a few patients already stricken by Alzheimer’s to varying degrees and their situation is treated sensitively through both intelligent writing and wonderfully compassionate performances. Watching the background stories develop is incredibly moving; Alice (Dorothy Miller) sits and leafs through a photo album filled with lost memories while husband Peter (Jeffry Wickham) who has spent his life loving her, now cares for her just as he always had; Walter sits holding a bouquet of flowers trying to get the attention and forgiveness of a lost love; Dudley Sutton’s splendid Thomas stands staring blankly into nothing. Seemingly lost in thought, eventual realisation dawns that he is lost to Alzheimer’s. Later when he leaps about or embraces someone, the emotion in his brief lucid wisdom is startlingly overpowering. Keeping it all together with gentle love is the redoubtable Nurse (Hatla Williams) who mingles care and compassion with necessary firmness and some group singing.
The snatches of songs are borrowed from popular music, rearranged and steeped in poignant significance. Here the drugs don’t work and love is a losing game but Love - The Musical is also a compelling tale, which is sympathetically directed; Gardarsson never overpowers with too much emotion and still maintains the natural humour, inherent in the situation, bubbling beneath everything.
A gem of thoughtful theatre wonderfulness and a powerful antidote to the high energy fare on offer elsewhere.
Cast:
Margaret: Anna Calder Marshall
Emma: Maria Charles
Neville: Julian Curry
Walter: Eddie Lewis
Adam: Jonathan McGuinness
Thomas: Dudley Sutton
Peter: Jeffry Wickham
Nurse: Hatla Williams
Steinway, the piano player: Palmi Sigurhartjarson
Community Choir:
Vera Baldwin
Maralin Belchere
Mike Clifton
Les Forrester
Mary Jones
Dorothy Miller
Shirley Moorman
Angel Morrison
Modupe Olulode
Bill Pike
Christine Ruocco
Patsy Scott
Ray Shaw
Creative Team:
Directed by Gísli Örn Gardarsson
Design by Börkur Jónsson
Lighting by Natasha Chivers
Sound by Nick Manning
Costume Design by Brenda Murphy
Casting by Chloe Emmerson
Assistant Directors Byron Gold Germaine and Gus Miller
2008-06-15 20:56:13