★★★★

“There is much to enjoy in this camp morality tale about the true cost of being a Diva”

Diva: Live from Hell! is a dark musical comedy directed by Joe McNeice with musical direction by Debbi Clarke. The show follows Demond Charming (Luke Bayer) as he recounts his sordid tale, forced to perform the show for all eternity in hell. Adding to Charming’s discomfort, he plays all the characters and entertains solo on stage, taking his anger out on the band and audience. Bayer is a superb talent, debuting the score with technical prowess and presence, revelling in the delightfully evil character portrayal.

Bayer performs the various characters with consistent distinctions and switches between them with ease, from awkward stage manager Ally Hewitt to relaxed jock Evan Harris. Carrying on their characterisation through their singing voice, sometimes duetting with himself in an impressive display. As more characters are introduced we learn about the events leading to Charming’s damnation. Throughout Desmond is malicious and disparaging about fellow members of the Ronald Reagen high school drama club, revealing a conniving insecure wannabe star. Bayer makes no attempt to redeem Desmond, President of drama Club, with all the trappings of a catty student thespian; complete with pettiness and ego. The dissection of showbiz ambition and the nasty edge of teen drama queens is funny as much as it is biting; Desmond is in the 7th circle of hell for a reason. His story evokes a message of self-acceptance, responsibility and the importance of introspection. We watch Charming’s descent from grace as he embraces the label of Diva.

Surrounded by the infernal band, Desmond performs from a hellish vaudeville-esq stage, complete with red ringleader jacket in the opening number “I’m coming live from Hell”. The songs are catchy, well paced and distinct (Alexander Sage Oyen) with as much dancing (Anna Hale) as a solo performer can provide (yes there is Tap). A bank of lockers set the story in a timeless school somewhere in America (set and costume design by Pip Terry). There are ample references to American musical theatre legends like Patty LuPone and Kevin Klein, with send ups of iconic sequences and coming of age Highschool dramas. Some jokes and references fall into a niche category, but not distractingly so.

The tale is full of sound and fury with touches of seriousness. Nora Brigid Monahan writes a compelling humorous story with a bitchy, melodramatic and effeminate, Desmond who insists his feelings towards his attractive rival are entirely plutonic, going ballistic at the suggestion he has suppressed feelings. The setting of Hell is foreboding and dramatic, with Desmond satirising his life with gleeful lines “Have you read the script? Who are you, Lea Michelle?” and “I like to think I’m making Ronald Reagan proud”. There is much to enjoy in this camp morality tale about the true cost of being a Diva.

ACCOLADE at the Theatre Royal Windsor

★★★½

“a grand revival that entertains and chills in equal measure”

“We all have one thing we’re ashamed of. Even the judge has, who’ll be peering at you over his glasses, making you feel like dirt. His secret may be the nastiest of the lot. Only you have committed the sin of being found out…”

The Theatre Royal has taken a bold decision with this revival of Emlyn Williams’ 1950 drama about a Nobel prize winning author with an addiction to sleazy sex. A knighthood from the king is about to propel William Trenting into the very heart of the establishment. But as his acquiescent wife knows, down at the Blue Lion in Rotherhithe he’s plain Bill Trent ‘the tramp’ who has a penchant for regular orgies.

The set is an immaculately brown period re-creation by Julie Godfrey who also designed the costumes. But how relevant to today’s audience is the moral anguish of 75 years ago? The answer is that accents and social mores may change but human fallibility does not. ‘Accolade’ sharply echoes recent sexual scandals involving any number of contemporary high profile individuals.

And although the plot relates the story of a man accused of sex with an underage girl, there are LGBT undercurrents. Emlyn Williams was bisexual throughout his adult life and took the lead at the show’s first production.

Director Sean Mathias has taken some imaginative decisions in both casting and design. Ayden Callaghan (Emmerdale and Hollyoaks) opens the show encased in something like a giant test tube which seems to symbolise the punishing glare of public scrutiny to which his character is about to be exposed. In this central role, his low-key performance was uneasily at odds with the rest of the cast. His Trenting does not belong in this sophisticated middle class world. But this is a provocative play of uneasy opposites. Public and private lives. Adults and minors. The establishment and the rest of us. In a telling line, Trenting admits that he is ‘growing up in front of my own son’.

Honeysuckle Weeks sparkles as Trenting’s compliantly loving wife Rona. As Trenting’s son, Louis Holland gives an engaging performance, literally drawing a veil across the scene in what seems to be a vain attempt to hide his family’s private drama from our gaze. Holland plays a bookish and privately educated 14 year old, in a pointed parallel to the child victim of Trenting’s philandering.

The sound design by David Gregory was particularly effective. Jamie Hogarth gives an intriguing performance as Albert, Trenting’s secretary with a dodgy past the author managed to pick up in a pub. Narinder Samra is terrific as Trenting’s insinuating blackmailer. Williams’ writing is peppered with witticisms, but very much of its time. Sara Twomey and Gavin Fowler give colourful performances as the cheery proprietors of the Blue Lion pub, who slip gleefully into Trenting’s posh home life.

DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL! at the King’s Head Theatre

★★★★

“There is much to enjoy in this camp morality tale about the true cost of being a Diva”

DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL! at the King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed on 6th June 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Danny With a Camera

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL!

DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL!

ACCOLADE at the Theatre Royal Windsor

★★★½

“a grand revival that entertains and chills in equal measure”

ACCOLADE at the Theatre Royal Windsor as part of UK Tour

Reviewed on 6th June 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Jack Merriman

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ACCOLADE

ACCOLADE