Tag Archives: Charlotte Peters

Normality

★★★

The Other Palace

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Normality

Normality

The Other Palace

Reviewed – 19th September

★★★

 

“A louder voice, greater dynamic variation and some brutal editing are needed to keep it afloat in the current swamp of new musicals”

 

The deluge of new musicals on the London theatre scene is a double-edged sword. Whilst this might please devotees of the genre, the wider appeal inevitably evaporates. And for composers and producers, this overcrowding adds its own challenges. The annual BEAM festival for new musicals, for example, received over three hundred pitches to be whittled down to fifty, while the West End continues to churn out re-issues, jukebox musicals, imports and any old film titles.

Thankfully there are now theatres dedicated to developing and promoting new musicals. The Other Palace is at the forefront of this movement, accepting submissions year-round as well as staging its ‘new musical workshop sharings’ where the audience is at the core of the process, witnessing the evolving show and offering feedback. “Normality” is one such musical testing the water. Subtitled “A Musical Guide to Quantifying Love in a World of Frauds and Scammers”, it is as quirky and zestful as its tag line suggests. Writers Jules Kleiser and Nige Reid are both song writers/musicians and have written the score for a four-piece rock band and ten voices. Under Charlotte Peters’ stylish direction, the cast of ten fill the stage, and the auditorium, creating a host of characters without feeling overcrowded.

At the centre is Norman Goodman, a small town, prog-rock obsessed keyboard player, with a nerdiness that is off the scale. Thinking that he is auditioning for a life changing gig he has, in fact, wandered into a corporate interview for a dodgy City trading company. Failing the interview, he nevertheless impresses by fixing the office computer. Invited to design an IT system to predict market trends for the firm, he then unwittingly finds himself embroiled in a Machiavellian financial scam. Norman’s narrow outlook on life is cruelly broadened as he battles with the dilemma of who to trust; a quandary he equates to a scientific equation.

The musical opens with too soft a punch. The band, placed up in the gallery, lack the volume to prick up the ears. But one quickly realises that this is to compensate for the singers not using mics. Whether this is an artistic or financial decision is unclear, but it does lead to problems of projection. Much of the libretto is lost during the solo numbers, particularly when some of the melodies wander beyond the actors’ vocal range. This is not ‘legit’ musical theatre, so the inconsistent quality of the singing can be forgiven, and where technique is occasionally lacking it is certainly made up for by character. Dan Buckley, in fine voice as Norman, is believable as the wunderkind with a heart, while Siobhan Athwal’s love interest mixes a no-nonsense steeliness with a true-hearted empathy. Ken Christiansen is all cockney brass as the bulldog CEO, unaware that all around him are ready to pull the carpet from underneath him. Claire Marlowe stands out as the privileged, upper class Lady Cocksure, with more faces than the town clock, who is intent on bringing everybody down.

But nothing unexpected really happens; either in the comedy, the dialogue or the score. With the exception of a refreshingly surreal Tango and a Ska infused number the soundtrack is quite monotone. It is like the composers are handling the material with kid gloves. There is a rawness to the satire of the book that is unmatched by a slightly reticent, almost polite, delivery of the guitar-based numbers. A louder voice, greater dynamic variation and some brutal editing are needed to keep it afloat in the current swamp of new musicals. At present it feels adrift in its own deference.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

 


Jonathan Evans

The Other Palace until 21st September

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Eugenius! | ★★★★ | February 2018
Suicide | ★★★½ | May 2018
Bromance: The Dudesical | ★★★★ | October 2018
Murder for Two | ★★★★ | December 2018
The Messiah | ★★★★ | December 2018
Toast | ★★★ | April 2019
Falsettos | ★★½ | September 2019

 

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Timeless – 3 Stars

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Timeless

Timeless

Theatre N16

Reviewed – 1st October 2018

★★★

“informative and thoughtful, but not emotionally resonant”

 

“You have a problem” reads a message in Martin’s phone in Timeless. It goes on to describe how he suffers from anterograde amnesia – a condition preventing him from creating new short-term memories and rendering him unable to remember anything past April 2008. This is the central idea of Brian Coyle’s one-man play; however, it never feels like it’s expanded on meaningfully throughout its one-hour runtime.

Martin largely addresses the audience about how his life works with the condition and how his family and friends – specifically his wife Tracey and his friend Neil – cope with the day to day strains of a man for whom the last ten years are a blank, although there are also brief flashbacks interspersed. There is an underlying story that develops, centred around Martin and Tracey’s relationship, but it is so clearly foreshadowed within the first twenty minutes that it becomes repetitive to see it play out exactly as expected. However, Timeless mostly forgoes a standard plot in favour of ruminations on memory, and how if the way an event is remembered or misremembered defines someone’s actions, then Martin not being able to remember anything possibly leaves him without a real sense of identity. This is where the script shines the most, as some psychologically complex ideas are delivered in an accessible and charming way.

John Rayment delivers an excellent performance as Martin, frequently elevating the material and providing an endearing earnestness to the character. It’s a testament to Rayment’s talent that, practically on his own except for a few props in the minimalistic set, he keeps the audience consistently enamoured. However, this is occasionally discordant with what we learn about Martin as the play develops, and it would’ve been a more layered performance had Rayment and director Charlotte Peters found moments to coax out the less earnest sides of the character. Additionally, there were a number of moments where Martin perpetuates outdated gender roles such as by demanding his wife make him a cup of tea, which felt unnecessary when not utilised to make a point about these issues.

And within that lies the main structural issue of Timeless – it was difficult to understand why this story was being told. Anterograde amnesia isn’t a common condition, and the play seemed unwilling to place it in the wider context of a more relatable issue, which subsequently made it informative and thoughtful, but not emotionally resonant. With further drafts from Brian Coyle that are able to let the audience empathise more, and with perhaps additional actors that let us see Martin’s relationships play out dynamically, Timeless has a lot of potential that currently feels hazy and distant.

 

Reviewed by Tom Francis

Photography courtesy Mixed Up Theatre 

 


Timeless

Theatre N16 until 4th October

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Unicorn | ★★★½ | May 2018
Shakespeare’s Mad Women | ★★★★ | June 2018
Reading Gaol | ★★★½ | July 2018
Castles Palaces Castles | ★★ | September 2018
Rough | ★★ | September 2018

 

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