Tag Archives: Ambassadors Theatre

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

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Ambassadors Theatre

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON at the Ambassadors Theatre

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“every member of the ensemble cast is a vital cog in the intricate mechanism of this fine piece of theatre”

Five years ago, β€œThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button” unveiled itself to little fanfare at Southwark Playhouse. Jethro Compton’s and Darren Clarke’s adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s fantastical short story used just five actor-musicians to tell the tale in a chamber music fashion. I described it at the time as β€˜a sensational piece of musical theatre’. I was not alone. Acoustic and intimate, the only way for it to go was to grow, until last year it replayed at the larger β€˜Elephant’ at Southwark, with more cast, more instruments and much more of a marketing push behind it. I felt it had lost something of the original. Nevertheless, it’s course was pre-determined. As per one of its narrative leitmotifs: β€˜Time and tide waits for no man’. It’s West End premiere, bigger and better still, has remarkably, and unquestionably, recaptured the sheer magic and emotional charm of its humble beginnings.

Fitzgerald was inspired to write the story, in 1922, by Mark Twain who lamented the fact that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst part at the end. Fitzgerald, in an attempt to turn this idea on its head, discovered that youth and old age are mirrors of each other. A witty and insightful satire it tells the story of Benjamin Button who is born an old man and mysteriously begins ageing backwards. At the beginning of his life, he is withered and worn, but as he continues to grow younger, he embraces life, falls in love, goes to war, has children, and eventually, as his mind begins to devolve again, returns to the care of his nurses, and eventual oblivion. It is a fantasy. A dark fairy tale but one that is slightly clinical and lacking in pathos. The genius of this musical adaptation partly lies in how much it is transformed into a heart-wrenching love story. Liberties are taken with the original text, but entirely necessary ones.

We are no longer in the US seaport of Baltimore, but on the Cornish coast. Compton – not content with writing, directing and co-writing the lyrics, is also the creative force behind the set. Evocatively shambolic, it recreates the small fishing village. You can almost smell the salty sea air. With the crash of a wave, we are introduced to the characters that inhabit this backwater with a poetic lyricism that echoes Dylan Thomas; and a musical accompaniment that pulls us right into the heart of the story, stronger than the moon at the highest tide. The folksy, Celtic tunes have a musical theatre veneer but are delivered with sublime energy and virtuosity by the twelve strong cast, layered with Chi-San Howard’s expert and clockwork choreography. Swapping instruments like relay batons, they keep the score alive, guiding it through the haunting ballads right up to the soaring anthems. The thirteenth cast member, who never picks up an instrument (until the encore) stands apart. The oddball. The title character – Benjamin Button. John Dagleish gives us a hangdog and tender portrayal that is also defiant and powerful. We are not long into the show when our hearts are already breaking. Rejected by his mother (beautifully and tragically portrayed by Philippa Hogg) there are shades of Kafka’s β€˜Metamorphosis’ as Button is kept in the attic – a shameful secret. Hogg’s rendition of β€˜The Kraken’s Lullaby’ leaves a lasting, tearful impression as she echoes the line β€˜I pray you won’t wake from your sleep’.

Yet he continues to do so, for the next sixty-nine years. It is a miraculous backwards journey that extends beyond the curiosity of a life running in reverse. Time is a constant refrain, and woven into the fabric of time are the inextricable links, and twists of fate, that snowball into life-changing moments. He meets the important characters in his life twice. Notably β€˜Little Jack’ (brilliantly played by Jack Quarton), a young fisherman whom Button befriends but later horrifies when he is young, and Jack is older. But it is Clare Foster’s Elowen who lights up the stage. The love of his life. Sassy and flirtatious in youth, heartbroken yet forgiving in love and vulnerably stoic in her tragic later years, her journey as she and Button travel in opposite directions is a masterstroke. When she sings β€˜We have Time’, we can hear the crack of a thousand hearts throughout the auditorium.

Mark Aspinall’s musical direction and orchestration accentuate the dynamics, each crescendo and diminuendo highlighted by Luke Swaffield’s crisp sound design. While Zoe Spurr’s lighting guides us from night, back into day; from the moon to the sun and even into the depths of the sea. Each shade pinpointing each pivotal moment.

Just as every moment counts, every member of the ensemble cast is a vital cog in the intricate mechanism of this fine piece of theatre. The harmonies sweep us away leaving us slightly breathless. Yet the emotional punch doesn’t completely conceal the cleverness of Compton and Clarke’s interpretation. Relocating it to Cornwall is an inspired choice, as is shifting the narrative forward to take in most of the twentieth century. The shifting tides and man’s fascination with the moon play an important role, taking on a metaphorical and literal reality with the 1969 Moon landing. An event that confirms the protagonists’ belief that anything is possible. We get the sense that they don’t quite fully accept that optimism. And most of the time, neither do we. But the battered belief abides. And this show affirms it. From start to finish, it is a triumph. Or is that from finish to start?


THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON at the Ambassadors Theatre

Reviewed on 6th November 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE ENFIELD HAUNTING | β˜…Β½ | January 2024
ROSE | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | May 2023
MAD HOUSE | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | June 2022
COCK | β˜…β˜…β˜… | March 2022

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

The Enfield Haunting

THE ENFIELD HAUNTING

β˜…Β½

Ambassadors Theatre

THE ENFIELD HAUNTING at the Ambassadors Theatre

β˜…Β½

The Enfield Haunting

“Unfortunately, The Enfield Haunting is a very bad play”

Between 1977 and 1979, the story of the Enfield poltergeist gripped the British public. A ghostly spirit had allegedly taken up lodgings in a council house in the London Borough of Enfield, creating havoc for the working-class family who lived there. The Enfield Haunting, written by Paul Unwin and directed by Angus Jackson, is based on these supposedly paranormal events, providing some potential answers for the still unresolved case. To inform his theatrical retelling, Unwin spoke with Guy Lyon-Playfair, a member of the Society of Psychical Research, who visited the site of the Enfield poltergeist 180 times.

Catherine Tate stars as Peggy Hodgson, single parent and matriarch of the family. The middle child, Janet (Ella Schrey-Yeats), has begun displaying strange episodes of behaviour – she convulses violently and speaks in tongues but then seemingly remembers none of it. Elsewhere in the house, objects and furniture appear to move on their own accord, fuses go out suddenly, and a haunting male figure is spotted lurking in the shadows.

Much to the family’s dismay, Maurice Grosse (David Threlfall), a British paranormal investigator, takes up near-residence in the house, monitoring the goings-on with his special equipment night after night. Clashing with neighbour β€˜Uncle’ Rey (Mo Sesay) who believes these spooky happenings are merely pranks in collaboration with the other children, Margaret (Grace Molony) and Jimmy (Noah Leggott), the Hodgsons try and navigate their newfound national notoriety.

All sounds rather exciting, right? The source material is interesting and there is great potential to explore a long history of β€˜hysterical’ young women and the mayhem they can cause. Unfortunately, The Enfield Haunting is a very bad play. The script is painfully weak – conversations and dialogue drag on for far longer than they need to. Rey delivers monologues of no substance that espouse the same points over and over again. Tate, a brilliant actress on stage and the silver screen, is pretty much reduced to saying the same two lines on repeat – β€˜Please go home, Rey!’ and β€˜I don’t know, Mr Grosse!’ – which is a tremendous waste of her talent.

“the tension is completely lacking”

Within its short 75-minute run-time (cut down by over 30 minutes from the previews), the play simply tries to cover too much. We are treated to not one but TWO twists which do not meld together at all. It is almost as if the production thought they’d try out both, see which gets the best reaction, and run with that. Unfortunately, both fall a bit flat, eliciting notable giggles from the audience.

Schrey-Yeats does well to bring some creepiness to this bland production. Molony is a good support as the eldest child, sufficiently vexatious in manner. Threlfall is given the richest character to explore, and he does what he can to bring some eccentricity and humour to the tale.

The set – designed by Lee Newby – is rather wonderful, a two-storey interior of the infamous house. The sound design (Carolyn Downing) is also strong – the music is atmospheric, the tension built well in these moments. Overall, however, the tension is completely lacking. The pacing is off. The recreation of the most iconic photo from the case – Janet seemingly floating in mid-air in their bedroom – happens so flippantly in the first 15-minutes that it is easily missed.

The illusions – led by Paul Kieve – are OK – a figure appears suddenly in the house before a sudden blackout allows him ample time to move. But nothing is unexplainable – except why the production team thought this play was fit for stage.

It is a great shame that something so well-informed has been unable to hit the mark and join the ranks of other great horror theatre. It is also disappointing that even with such a strong leading duo, such a feeble show is the result. Unless you are a serious paranormal fan, it is definitely one to miss.


THE ENFIELD HAUNTING at the Ambassadors Theatre

Reviewed on 10th January 2024

by Flora Doble

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ROSE | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | May 2023
MAD HOUSE | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | June 2022
COCK | β˜…β˜…β˜… | March 2022

THE ENFIELD HAUNTING

THE ENFIELD HAUNTING

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page