Tag Archives: BestofVAULT

FANNY A NEW MUSICHALL

★★★★★

VAULT Festival 2020

ReviewsBestofVAULT, Carolyn Scott-Jeffs, Connie Watson, Dominika Fleszar, Fanny A New Musichall, Lizzie Wofford, Peter John Dodsworth, The Unruly Regiment, Tim Ford, Tom Noyes, VAULT Festival 2020thespyinthestalls

Fanny A New Musichall

Crescent – The Vaults

Reviewed – 18th February 2020

★★★★★

“absolutely stunning”

The Unruly Regiment, consisting of mother-daughter duo Carolyn Scott-Jeffs and Lizzie Wofford brought to the VAULT Festival an engaging and engaged new musical. And it is absolutely stunning.

Fanny wants to sing in music halls. Given she possesses the unbelievably strong voice of Lizzie Wofford as well as her charismatic stage presence, she may well succeed. But Fanny feels she needs to tell a story – a story of her friend Elsie who, as her cabaret counterpart, also “wasn’t what you call a blushing flower” and definitely “as a matter of fact, she rented by the hour”. Although “happiest corpse” she probably was not. The story of Elsie goes from nought to 100 in no time. What starts as a cheerful, slightly sentimental and genuinely funny journey to the world of music halls and Victorian morality (with audience participation galore) takes a much gloomier turn in the second half. The 19th century that is so often romanticised on stage and on screen, with all its dark sides blissfully covered over, is here with an unforgiving world of misery – particularly for women, and even more particularly – for prostitutes.

“Fanny: a New Musichall” was written by Carolyn Scott-Jeffs, and brilliantly so. It is very well composed – a traditional musical theatre formula (introducing songs in the first half, reprising them in the second) and the deconstruction of the story as well as the balance between comedic and tragic elements create a seamless and internally logical whole. Characters she created are unaffectedly engaging and easy for the audience to empathise with, richly brought to life by Tim Ford’s clever direction. Lizzie Wofford who plays Fanny and Elsie (and virtually every other character in Fanny’s tale about Elsie) is a powerhouse. Tom Noyes as Fanny’s a bit “funny” pianist is wonderfully hilarious. The musical arrangements by Peter John Dodsworth are quite brilliant, above all in the reprisals that extract a wholly different meaning from popular show tunes. Design (by Connie Watson), lighting (by Anna Reddyhoff) and costumes (on-budget variation on period attire) all complement “Fanny” in a perfectly fine if a tad unobtrusive way.

The only downside is, “Fanny: a New Musichall” runs for only three performances during the VAULT Festival. It is definitely not enough for a show that great.

Reviewed by Dominika Fleszar

Click here to see all our reviews from VAULT Festival 2020

THE 4th COUNTRY

★★★★★

VAULT Festival 2020

ReviewsAoife Kennan, BestofVAULT, Catja Hamilton, Cormac Ellliot, Gabbie Bird, Kate Reid, Plain Heroines, Rachel Rooney, Rebecca Crankshaw, The 4th Country, VAULT Festival 2020thespyinthestalls

The 4th Country

Crypt – The Vaults

Reviewed – 12th February 2020

★★★★★

“An exceptional piece of work. Ambitious in scope and powerful in achievement”

‘Misunderstood, neglected and under-reported, Northern Ireland is just across the water but feels a million miles away’. These are the opening words on the show information laminate in the Crypt, where this show is staged. Appropriately enough, the Crypt is the Vaults stage that feels the furthest away from the main action, reached, as it is, by walking through a large bar, leaving the building altogether, and re-entering. I wonder whether this was deliberate. It wouldn’t surprise me, as this is a meticulous piece of theatre, with an ambitious script in which every word counts.

Writer Kate Reid has grabbed Northern Ireland by the balls, and is fearless in her intent. She addresses the big issues head on – both past and present – from Bloody Sunday, to the abortion law, to the power vacuum in Stormont, but without sacrificing the intimate personal truths which make all great drama lift from the page. Her characters live and breathe, and we care what happens to them. This is in no small part down to the skill of the acting ensemble. Kate Reid acts in the show too, joined by Aoife Kennan, Cormac Ellliot and Rachel Rooney, and there is not a weak link in the chain. This is performing of the highest quality – skilled, muscular, nuanced – and transports the audience into the various worlds of the play on the flip of a coin; all the more skilful when the scenes are presented within a meta-structure which lays the show’s theatricality bare. And what a joy to watch a piece of theatre in which this meta-structure has real purpose, and so brilliantly serves the content!

Gabriella Bird’s direction is perfect in this regard and could so easily be overlooked. It too seamlessly serves the narrative, allowing the actors to move freely through the space in such a way that the audience is continually stimulated but never distracted. This takes a great deal of skill. West End practitioners take note! There was no Sound Designer listed to credit, but the subtle sound design added to the whole, as did Catja Hamilton’s unobtrusive lighting.

The 4th Country is an exceptional piece of work. Ambitious in scope and powerful in achievement. As the two women who left the Crypt in tears last night would testify.

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Click here to see all our reviews from VAULT Festival 2020