THE BIG LIFE. To 12 March.
London
THE BIG LIFE
by Paul Sirett music by Paul Joseph Mrs Aphrodite's dialogue by Tameka Empson
Theatre Royal Stratford East To 12 March 2005
Tue-Sat 7.30pm
Runs 2hr 40min One interval
TICKETS: 020 8534 0310
www.stratfordeast.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 22 February
As the last song says Be Good to Yourself' - get on down to the Theatre Royal for this hugely enjoyable show.This show's success last year crowned long-term artistic director Philip Hedley's development of Black theatre and the musical. And Stratford sounds good for a piece based on an idea by William Shakespeare - his early comedy Love's Labours Lost where lordly young men's vows to forgo women for a couple of years' earnest study come up against human nature, glands and hormones.
Paul Sirett brilliantly adapts the story to early arrivals from the Caribbean on the Empire Windrush, determined to establish themselves in England. The British government thought they were getting cheap labour (if the cast's on Equity minimum this might not be far from the truth). What also sneaked in was a cultural uprush delightfully evident in Paul Joseph's ska and calypso, Jason Pennycooke's infectious dance-routines and a faultless, energetic cast.
Sirett shadows Shakespeare's two major comic wheezes and is true to the original's downbeat ending (though with a decidedly upbeat epilogue to leave audiences toe-tappingly clap-happy). He also finds room for more serious stuff. Like Shakespeare he gives the women the moral upper-hand. But royals and nobles are replaced by impoverished boarders in Zulieka's house even she has to pay a whacking rent to her ex-husband.
Through joblessness in act one and low-paid long-hours later the Empire's passengers face English racism. Amanda Horlock represents the natives, and it's her good-hearted Piccadilly whore who's free and friendly, helping out when someone has their pocket picked. Horlock's other character, an academic's secretary, shivers with shock and fear at seeing a Black man, exhibiting the fearful racism of the respectable.
Without Shakespeare's verse some more serious moments can edge towards sentimentality which doesn't stop them striking a chord with audience members (judging by some outloud comments, this was their life). But this is the version with all the tunes.
And, for all its title expresses illusions about life in England the newcomers were hoping for, The Big Life with its Eros statue, its truth to life and love, respect for its characters' resilience, not to mention the perky modern interludes from supposed audience member Mrs Aphrodite between scenes, is massively enjoyable.
Reverend: Geoff Aymer
Kathy: Claudia Cadette
Mrs Aphrodite: Tameka Empson
Jacqueline/Secretary: Amanda Horlock
Zulieka: Antonia Kemi-Coker
Admiral;/Eros: Jason Pennycooke
Dennis: Marcus Powell
Bernie: Neil Redman
Mary: Yvette Rochester-Duncan
Ferdy: Victor Romero-Evans
Lennie: Chris Tumming
Sybil: Yaa
Director: Clint Dyer
Designer/Costume: Jenny Tiramani
Lighting: Gerry Jenkinson
Sound: Gareth Owen
Musical Director: Robert Hyman
Choreographer: Jason Pennycooke
2005-02-23 08:00:25