GODFATHER DEATH: A GRIMMS’ MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★★

“The carefully crafted and deftly performed musical score has earthy tones of folk and blues”

Godfather Death: A Grimm’s Musical is a commanding and energetic musical adaptation of a dark, morality fairy-tale first collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is brought to life by the talented stage and musical direction of brothers Jack and Finlay Avison and a strong, committed, and versatile cast.

On the birth of her thirteenth child, with another mouth to feed and under threat of the child being sent to the workhouse, a mother must find a Godfather who will be a benefactor to her new-born son. Vying for this role are God and the Devil. God imperiously offers unconditional love and other divine promises, but the mother has only witnessed poverty and hardship and finds God’s promises empty. The Devil’s temptations are similarly unpalatable.

Godfather Death, languid yet playful, then offers his own services, promising to look after the boy and family financially. On the son’s coming of age, he bestows upon him the gift of knowing when someone is to live or to die. His benefactory gift comes with a warning, however: there can be no way to avoid Death when the person’s time is up.

As the Godson, grows, becoming ‘the Physician,’ he encounters the myriad complexities of the mortal struggle as he stands in the way of Death. The tongue-in-cheek song ‘Death is a friend of mine’ catches this moment. Is it acceptable to profiteer from people’s fear of Death? How do we square our moral stance in accepting or railing against the fate of others? We all come to accept Death’s invitation.

Andrew Lodge (Death) holds the stage and the audience throughout this captivating musical, an ever present and highly able singer and actor, bringing malice, charm, persuasion and wit to the role with ease.

Jack Mailer gives the performance of his life as the Godson / Physician, with superbly controlled singing and emotive strength.

Iona Wood (Mother, Princess) brings the full range of emotions to her roles and the audience feel her plight, whilst Aila Swan (God, Queen, Sibling, Servant) shows a highly dynamic vocal dexterity in her characterful and energetic portrayal of God and the sister, especially in lively duets with her brother.

Finlay Avison (Co-Director) works hard to overcome the challenges of a small stage, many costumes and props and a complex narrative. The cast, especially Death, engage with the audience, moving in and around the auditorium, ensuring we are fully immersed in the storytelling.

The set is simple, with the two live musicians on stage and amusingly taking a comedic part in the narrative at times. Use of costumes and props clarify the multiple roles, and the thematic use of candles is a powerful metaphor for life as it is created and taken away.

Lighting by Fraser Scott is used effectively and evocatively throughout, creating a suitably ethereal suspense, although the small stage did mean at times it was difficult for the cast to follow the spot at the edges.

Jack Avison is an accomplished Co-Musical Director, helping the swift transitions in an otherwise complex narrative to take shape. He is ably assisted by Jon Wallace on drums, which never overpowered. The carefully crafted and deftly performed score has earthy tones of folk and blues alongside haunting and memorable melodies and some real crowd-pleasing ensemble songs. The overlapping melodies are performed with gusto by this musically talented cast, which despite the odd slip in intonation, had the audience laughing especially at the closing number ‘Everybody Dies (Thank F**k)

This is a thoroughly entertaining musical, which would be interesting to see on a larger stage.

GODFATHER DEATH: A GRIMMS’ MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall – Haldane Theatre

Reviewed on 13th August 2024

by Lucy Williams

GODFATHER DEATH

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★★★★

“a fascinating reconstruction of what might have been said”

Last year’s Jermyn Street Theatre production of Katherine Moar’s cerebral play journeys the short distance down Haymarket to take up residence at the majestic Theatre Royal.

The title Farm Hall takes its name from the real Cambridgeshire country residence in which a number of Germany’s top physicists are imprisoned at the end of the war and where their every word is recorded and scrutinised. The play is a fascinating reconstruction of what might have been said and how such a collection of brilliant men may have behaved. With the central character of Werner Heisenberg in common, Moar’s fascinating first play invites comparison with Michael Frayn’s brilliant Copenhagen.

The action is set entirely in Farm Hall’s downstairs drawing room; a room that first appears luscious with antique mahogany furniture, polished floorboards, and a Persian rug in front of the open fireplace, until one’s eyes are drawn to the damp on the walls and the peeling wallpaper (Designer Ceci Calf). Everything is softly lit (Lighting Designer Ben Ormerod) exuding a gentle period feel.

The six scientists, impeccably dressed in suits and ties, sit and stand around. It transpires they are rehearsing a scene from Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit just to fill the time. Later, we’ll see them reading, or playing chess or backgammon. One scientist amusingly sulks because they haven’t got Monopoly. There is surprisingly little talk about science. Director Stephen Unwin skilfully moves the six men around the room without ever hurrying the pace or making the room appear overcrowded.

At first it appears that the dashing Weizsäcker (Daniel Boyd) is the group’s ringleader, controlling the group’s activities and its conversation, and then Von Laue (David Yelland, delightfully plummy) as the senior scientist. Like a group of public-school boys, they fantasise about pretty girls, there are petty rivalries, even some slight bullying of the generally disliked Diebner (Julius D’Silva) – the lone experimental physicist amongst a majority of theoreticals. The empathic Hahn (Forbes Masson) tries to see that everyone gets along and Bagge (Archie Backhouse) prickles that he has the most of all to fear for the future. The six actors are all excellent, the dialogue flows and we are drawn in, fascinated by their individual stories.

And then the tone changes, a large shadow is cast over the gathering as the Americans drop the first atomic bomb. Each man reacts differently, Heisenberg (a mightily impressive Alan Cox) simply won’t believe it. Hahn is inconsolable and hints at suicide. And the conversation turns from games to something more serious. Did they really intend to create a bomb for the Nazis or did they just pretend to? Heisenberg ambiguously admits that both could be true and as the group collect their suitcases on their eventual release they are now asking themselves the impossible question: What is truth? And that is one question too big for any short play to answer.

Category Archives: Reviews

🎭 TOP EDINBURGH FRINGE MUSICAL 2024 🎭

GODFATHER DEATH: A GRIMMS’ MUSICAL

★★★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

GODFATHER DEATH: A GRIMMS’ MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★★

“The carefully crafted and deftly performed musical score has earthy tones of folk and blues”