“the cast float around each other with well choreographed ease”
I spent my teenage years with my nose in a classic book, or two, or three, (or four), but I have to admit I never really enjoyed the writing of Wilkie Collins. In latter years I’ve enjoyed adaptations for stage and screen far more than the novels. They brought to life some of his complex characters and amazing plots. Maybe it was the lawyer in him that made his attention to detail so precise, and my teenage attention span that struggled with his prose.
Written in the mid nineteenth century, the book felt like a detective novel, yet that was a genre that barely existed at the time. Having not seen the original production, I was a little wary of how a classic mystery, complete with Victorian ghosts, could be adapted as a musical, even with a score from the capable hands of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Explaining this plot involves untangling deliberate deception, sinister marriages, and questionable morals. It encompasses several journeys, an asylum, a marriage, and an impossible love affair, not to mention mistaken identities, two huge ‘secrets’ and a potential murder/kidnap to juggle! The cast have the unenviable task of ensuring the audience follows the twists and turns of five intertwined, unfurling lives, through David Zippel’s lyrics.
Charing Cross theatre is not a large venue, but Morgan Large’s adaptable set effortlessly glides to separate centre stage to direct your attention left or right, as well as framing action at the back to effectively shield dramatic entrances. The effect is very atmospheric and spacious, I frequently felt I was part of the journey around the stage throughout the story.
The score has been revised for this new production and is performed to perfection by the live orchestra conducted by Simon Holt. The acoustics of this old Music Hall aid the wonderful voices of the cast who float around each other with well choreographed ease. As an ensemble their voices harmonise beautifully, and the lyrics afford some humour to the tale.
The story has many protagonists pivotal to the plot, each presence on stage needs to command attention – and does. There is more than one leading lady and more than one villain at work. And the hero of the piece may just be a heroine. Carolyn Maitland, Anna O’Byrne and Sophie Reeves (Mariam, Laura and Anne) have equally stunning voices. Each sings with the other at some point throughout the show to great effect. Different songs leave you feeling each has out-sung the other until the next number and the dynamic shifts.
Ashley Stillburn, Chris Peluso and Greg Castiglioni work wonderfully as Walter, Glyde and Count Fosco – the latter turning in an amazing comic cameo in the middle of the second act to much applause.
The show has lightened the tone from the original novel without losing the mystery – and with a twist at the end that remains a surprise. The Woman in White with its accomplished cast and tremendous score should be one of everyone’s Christmas shows to see.
Reviewed by Joanna Hinson
Photography by Darren Bell
The Woman in White
is at the Charing Cross Theatre until 10th February
“strikingly well observed, with a constant stream of laugh out loud moments”
Well it was a miracle I got to the Charing Cross Theatre, I live in that part of South East London & North Kent that Network Rail seems to have declared war on. Trains no longer stop at London Bridge and rarely arrive at Charing Cross at all, and this evening they decided in their wisdom to cancel my train with 5 minutes notice … So a reroute via Cannon Street and tube meant I arrived just in time for curtain up. Seated behind Maureen Lipman, whose late husband Jack Rosenthal wrote the original 1979 comedy as a TV film, I tried to calm my heavy breathing and seem as unflustered as possible as the lights dimmed!
The play focuses on three men hoping to become London black cab drivers. It follows them as they take exam after exam on street names, routes, and obscure places within the capital. This process of training is ‘The Knowledge’.
We witness the would-be cabbies progressive attempts to gain their green badge and create better opportunities for themselves and their families. Through their interactions we learn more about the people on the course and what it means to each of them to gain ‘The Knowledge’. Their home lives and varied backgrounds are slowly revealed as the stress and pressure to achieve takes its toll.
The budding taxi drivers (James Alexandrou, Ben Caplan, Fabien Frankel & Louise Callaghan) are all less daunted by learning 15,000 road names than they are by their examiner, the slightly crazed Mr Burgess, aka ‘The Vampire’ (portrayed in a wonderfully comic performance by Steven Pacey). Each of the cast were outstanding and held the audience’s attention throughout, delivering exactly the right amount of giggles and raw emotion. The supporting artists come and go adding dimension to the experience and creating memorable cameos as well as giving further insight into the background story of each wannabe driver.
The script, by Simon Block, has been expertly adapted, accentuating the original humour of Rosenthal while altering some aspects of late 1970s culture for 21st century appreciation. It is strikingly well observed (enhanced even moreso by Nicolai Hart-Hansen’s clever set) with a constant stream of laugh out loud moments and a great nostalgic soundtrack at interval!
The play moves seamlessly along keeping you wondering exactly what will happen next. You wouldn’t put money on who will gain The Knowledge in the end! A great comic evening out. Hail it while you can!
Reviewed by Joanna Hinson
Photography by Scott Rylander
THE KNOWLEDGE
is at The Charing Cross Theatre until 11th November
