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Paul Simon’s Graceland Live

Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Reviewed – 14th October 2019

★★★★

“Turner does a great job with some Simon classics and some lesser-known favourites”

For many adults and indeed children of the 1980s, Paul Simon’s Graceland album remains iconic. Hits such as ‘You Can Call Me Al’ and the album’s namesake track remain staples on party playlists over 30 years after its release. And for many born long after 1986, the chance to hear the album live would have been unthinkable – especially since Simon’s step away from touring in 2018. Until now.

Maple Tree Entertainment have already found success with The Simon and Garfunkel Story, which now tours worldwide to rapturous audiences, and so it’s perhaps unsurprising that they have continued to mine the clear vein of enthusiasm for all things Paul Simon. Hence this new production, which calls upon the remarkable talents of the UK-based South African Cultural Choir to add the essential vocals so beloved of fans of Graceland – including the remarkable lilting refrains of ‘Homeless’, originally provided so memorably by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Fans expecting a repeat of The Simon and Garfunkel story, which deploys singers with at least a passing resemblance to the pair and casts them as actors as well as musicians, might be surprised. This is not quite the same show, and this at first takes some adjustment. Young American YouTuber Josh Turner takes Simon’s part here, and for all that he’s clearly a remarkable guitarist, handling the fast fingerwork of ‘Anji’ with apparent ease, he is no voice-alike of Simon and nor does he pretend to be. This quickly becomes irrelevant, but it’s best to approach the performance as a tribute rather than a likeness.

The shape of the production becomes even clearer when the night opens with ‘Kodachrome’ – an absolute banger of a Simon track, certainly, but not from the Graceland album. Turner explains the format: we’ll hear some Simon tracks in the first half, and meet the choir who’ll remind us just why Simon fell in love with South African township music and went on to make Graceland. In the second half, we’ll hear the Graceland album in full. The audience rustles in anticipation; this is what people have come for.

It’s credit, then, to the virtuoso work of all and especially the SACTUK and its charismatic lead, that the first half is still so warmly received. Gorgeous costumes of coloured beads, neckpieces and rustling skirts set off the astonishing performances from the choir, including the wonderful ‘Shosholoza’ – and in fact, to call this troupe of nine just a choir undersells them, as the dancing on display shows amazing skill and athleticism. And Turner does a great job with some Simon classics and some lesser-known favourites; ‘Homeward Bound’, especially, is heartfelt, and the gradual introduction of choir and full band in ‘Peace Like a River’ works a treat. The closing refrains of ‘The Only Living Boy in New York’, wrapping up the first half, are moving.

Naturally, though, it’s for part two that most have come, and from the opening refrains of ‘The Boy in the Bubble’ the audience melt. This largely seated performance sees everyone on their feet for the irresistible ‘You Can Call Me Al’ with an execution made even more brilliant by the fact that those on stage also seem to be having the time of their lives. Guitar and bass guitar solos taken by Turner’s band are performed with absolute aplomb and clear relish (although the full saxophone solo in ‘That Was Your Mother’ was missed), and rich colours light the stage to mark the warmth of the celebration.

Simon became hooked on South African music after hearing a bootleg cassette, and the rest is history. From the reception to this vigorous, joyful rendition of Graceland 33 years after its release, it’s clear that Simon’s own work, in turn, has hooked generations. Long may it last.

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Photography by Hamish Gill

Paul Simon’s Graceland Live

Shepherd’s Bush Empire & UK Tour

Other recent reviews by Abi:

Constellations | ★★ | Lilian Baylis Studio | June 2019

Kill Climate Deniers | ★★★★ | Pleasance Theatre | June 2019

The Incident Pit | ★½ | Tristan Bates Theatre | July 2019

Alpha Who? | ★★★ | Cockpit Theatre | August 2019

The Indecent Musings Of Miss Doncaster 2007 | ★★★½ | Camden People’s Theatre | August 2019

1mm Au Dessus Du Sol | ★★★★ | Lilian Baylis Studio | September 2019

Jade City | ★★★ | The Bunker | September 2019

The Life I Lead | ★★★★ | Wyndham’s Theatre | September 2019

Murder On The Dance Floor | ★★★ | Pleasance Theatre | October 2019

The Ice Cream Boys | ★★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | October 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews

★★★

“this is a night of great music, played loud, and more clever physical dexterity than you can shake a stick at”

You could argue that not enough is made of the slough of oddness into which university leavers find themselves plunged on graduation. Returning, in many cases, to parental homes and familiar faces who have both not changed and changed very, very much is bound to be unsettling. First world problem it may be (and that does make it a little hard to feel too sorry for Murder on the Dancefloor’s main characters), but certainly one that invokes some flux, and it’s this that this production makes a focus – with a sinister outcome.

We meet the graduates back in their home city, convening around pub quiz machines to swap notes on jobhunting. Ollie Norton-Smith’s script rattles along at such a quickfire pace that it’s sometimes hard to keep up, and occasionally, as the plot unfolds, important twists and turns can be easily missed. The thrust is clear, though; Sabrina, played with great vigour by Phoebe Campbell, is all at sea, back at home in dead-end jobs and living with her hated brother and lecturing dad (Tullio Campanale, who is a quiet hero of the piece here, turning his hand to his two roles with alacrity). Just how lost these post-uni souls are is clear; on noting that it’s sad not to know what happens next, Sabrina tells her friend that it’s a job, a home, a future. ‘But that’s on us’, Bonnie (Francesa Thompson) reflects mournfully.

The choreography of this piece is extraordinary, especially in the tight space of the Pleasance and with audiences wrapped around on three sides – although more could be done to keep sightlines clear for folks sat at left and right. The cast’s running, dancing, flowing around the stage is positively mercurial; props to Zak Nemorin’s dance choreography. The physicality is commendable, and surely absolutely exhausting, but it risks becoming repetitive and the snappy run time here feels right, if nudging towards overlong for what turns out to be a slightly flimsy plot.

Murder on the Dancefloor is billed as a black comedy, and there is the odd laugh, but that doesn’t feel like it quite cuts it as a description. The script isn’t quite funny enough to call this a true comic piece, and lacks the emotional depth to make for truly powerful physical theatre. It’s a shame this falls between two stalls, as there’s much to recommend the night. All the acting and movement on display is impressive, with some clever moments of direction from Ollie Norton-Smith; a scene where Sabrina reminisces over an old photo album is especially neat. And the soundtrack is such a presence as to feel like it’s another character on stage; a Spotify playlist must surely follow.

This is a cast brimming with talent, executing some really notable choreography. Ultimately, their performances are undermined by a flawed narrative, with the closing plot twist so damn silly as to make a bit of a mockery of any moments of emotional heft that preceded it. That said: this is a night of great music, played loud, and more clever physical dexterity than you can shake a stick at. And there’s a lot to be said for that.

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Reviewed – 14th October 2019

★★★★

“Turner does a great job with some Simon classics and some lesser-known favourites”

Simon became hooked on South African music after hearing a bootleg cassette, and the rest is history. From the reception to this vigorous, joyful rendition of Graceland 33 years after its release, it’s clear that Simon’s own work, in turn, has hooked generations. Long may it last.

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Photography by Hamish Gill

Paul Simon’s Graceland Live

Shepherd’s Bush Empire & UK Tour

Other recent reviews by Abi:

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 12th October 2019

★★★

“this is a night of great music, played loud, and more clever physical dexterity than you can shake a stick at”

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Murder on the Dancefloor

Pleasance Theatre until 13th October

Previously reviewed at this venue: