MARTIN GUERRE till 1 September.
Watermill - West Bershire Playhouse
Martin Guerre
by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg
Watermill-West Berkshire Playhouse until 1st September
Running time 2:40
Review: Stewart McGill 18 July 2007
Is it only me that's luke-warm??This show is going to be a superb audience success- selling out, standing ovations and delights. That is my prediction based on the audience response this week at Watermill… for me I confess to feeling a more muted and rather different reaction.
My problem with Martin Guerre is that the show seems very dated by contemporary music-theatre standards and the through-sung score very sub Les Miserables. There is no doubting the quality and strength of the ensemble cast led by Ben Goddard as Arnaud who assumes the persona of a supposedly dead Guerre. The singing and playing of multi-instruments is terrific and to be expected at a Watermill music-theatre show.
Last year I felt director/choreographer Craig Revel Horwood re-animated Hot Mikado whereas with Guerre it seems to be going over familiar territory. The set, always a marvel here, and costumes are designed to bring a series of Bruegel paintings to life and this is very effective but seems a long way from the direction music-theatre is taking now.
I would not worry if there were plenty of memorable numbers in the show but apart from a couple of choruses it remains a rather bland score and leaves me in no doubt as to why the show has always failed to catch the public imagination. With the failure in New York of the latest Boublil / Schonberg work The Pirate Queen I wonder if they are a one-and-a-half hit wonder?
It’s still a fine evening’s entertainment and I hope readers won’t feel put off by my disappointment. I applaud the production values, design, lighting….etc but all the dressing does not compensate for a sub standard score and book……the heart of musical theatre.
Martin Guerre: Andrew Bevis
Catherine: Esther Biddle
Arnaud du Thil: Ben Goddard
Father Dominic/Judge: Michael Howcroft
Madame Du Rols: Karen Mann
Bertrande de Rols: Kelly O’Leary
Andre: Kit Orton
Hortense: Rosie Timpson
Pierre Guerre: James Traherne
Guillaume: Jez Unwin
Ernestine: Susannah Van Den Berg
Benoit: Johnson Willis
Director and Choreographer: Craig Revel Horwood
Musical Arrangements and
Musical Supervisor: Sarah Travis
Designer: Diego Pitarch
Lighting Designer: Richard G Jones
Sound Designer: Gary Dixon
2007-07-19 15:31:36