★★½

“George Renshaw as Harry Wotton gives a show stealing solo performance”

Oscar Wilde seems to be having a bit of a moment. There is a production of The Importance of Being Earnest upcoming at the National Theatre, and The Picture of Dorian Gray was recently staged with Succession star Sarah Snook bagging an Olivier for her performance. Now the Southwark Playhouse is putting on a musical adaptation of Dorian Gray.

In this version, with book and direction by Linnie Reedman and music & lyrics by Joe Evans, Dorian is an overnight online sensation, taken in by the music industry who promise him his youthful beauty can live forever through his music. There are some oblique references to the 27 club of famous musicians who died young and versions of Wilde’s original characters who inadvertently guide Dorian towards his eventual end.

The main challenge with this adaptation is that, conceptually, it just doesn’t work. A musical set in the modern era, that purports to explore how social media affects our perception of beauty can’t just throw in a couple of references to Dorian having gone viral on YouTube, cocaine fuelled industry parties, or things being ‘all over the newspapers… and also social media’. Equally the costume and set (Isabella Van Braeckel), are more Victorian gothic than modern, although the set is successfully reminiscent of a recording studio – multiple Moroccan carpets strewn across the floor, LPs and guitars on the walls and piled with books and bric-a-brac. The story needs greater integration of the contemporary themes it claims to explore in the adaptation to pull it off – or else a straight 19th century adaptation would do.

More heinously though, to evoke the spirits of some of rock and pops greatest talents – Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse – the music and lyrics have got to attempt to match. At a minimum, the music has to lean more ‘pop’ than musical theatre. But all the music is drab and dull, seemingly inspired more by the gothic musicals Phantom of the Opera or Sweeney Todd, but without any of the musicality or lyricism of Lloyd-Weber or Sondheim.

The casting unfortunately doesn’t help matters. Alfie Friedman as Dorian Gray has a very musical theatre voice, with plenty of vibrato, opening the show with a number about living forever that has the potential for a pop-rock ballad inspired by Queen’s, but is instead memorable only in its blandness. There are some exceptions of course. George Renshaw as Harry Wotton gives a show stealing solo performance of Where the Yellow Roses Grow, a highlight of the second act with his intelligent interpretation of the tune. Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson and Megan Hill as Sybil/Fabian Vane are also strong vocalists and being much needed comic relief, particularly in the second act.

Overall, Dorian: The Musical gives sixth-form production energy due to the safe but bland musical numbers, some odd directorial choices, and the half-baked ‘contemporary’ setting. Saved from the abyss by some stand out performances, including a superb guitar solo from a member of the live band, this piece will most appeal to Wilde superfans rather than the masses.

SAPPHO at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

★★

“Wendy Beckett’s script is uncertain and seems not to trust itself.”

Georgie Fellows shines as Sappho in an otherwise uncertain muddle of a play.

The story is set in an alternative history, circa 600 BC. It follows the imagined life of Sappho, the Ancient Greek poet, whose real life we know little about. In this play Sappho is engaged to be married, a marriage of convenience to further her parents’ political ambitions. However she is in love with a woman, not the man she is marrying.

While the premise seems simple enough, it is complicated by convoluted sub-plots about her parents’ politics. They want to spread democracy across the land. Since it’s neither historically accurate, nor particularly clear in the play, this becomes a political drama with no context. The broad strokes commentary against the elite falls flat.

This points to the bigger issue with this play, which is that it doesn’t know what it is. The tone is a mishmash of campy asides and panto acting, with boppy dance numbers and earnest calls to arms. Every chance at emotional depth is undermined by jokey asides, but it’s not quite funny enough to make that worth it.

Wendy Beckett’s script is uncertain and seems not to trust itself. The simple love story at the heart of this play, is nice, and it would’ve been stronger had it stripped back the tangled layers around it.

Wendy Beckett co-directs with Adam Fitzgerald and again this uncertainty comes through. Every performer seems to be in a different play and every scene is a different tone. There is a Greek chorus, which at times are used for beautiful discordant singing and moments of dance (well-choreographed by Fotis Diamantopoulos) but in many scenes confuse and crowd the stage.

The performances are broadly strong, if uneven tonally. Emmanuel Akwafo is a strong comic narrator, though sometimes his asides become a little repetitive. However the show stealer is Georgie Fellows as Sappho, who manages to ride the tonal rollercoaster of this play, and carries its emotional heart, such as it is.

Adam King’s lighting stands out in a moment where the stage in bathed in rainbow light, in what should’ve been a moving commentary about Sappho’s legacy. Halcyon Pratt’s set is simple and versatile, if not particularly memorable.

Mehdi Bourayou’s sound design and score provide boppy pop style numbers and more traditional Greek chorus songs, many of which are really fun. It would’ve been great to have more music in this, as it might have hung it together more fluidly.

Sappho’s importance not only as a poet but as a queer poet is unquestionable, and her poetry speaks through the ages. This play hasn’t quite decided how to tell her story – should it be a campy and fun musical or a hard-hitting political drama. By not making that decision, the play is neither satisfying as a comedy nor a political biopic.

DORIAN: THE MUSICAL at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★½

“George Renshaw as Harry Wotton gives a show stealing solo performance”

DORIAN: THE MUSICAL at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 10th July 2024

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Danny Kaan

More shows reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

DORIAN

DORIAN

SAPPHO at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

★★

“Wendy Beckett’s script is uncertain and seems not to trust itself.”

SAPPHO at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Reviewed on 8th May 2024

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues

Sappho

Sappho