NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812

Donmar Warehouse

★★★★★

“The performances are uniformly superb, the skin of each character ripped open by the flaming crossbow of passion”

A major comet is visible from earth on average every five to ten years, while a great comet is visible every twenty to thirty years. Although the timescale may be contracted a little, a truly great show appears every once in a while, that forces people to look up and take note. “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” is one of the brightest examples of this phenomenon. Directed by Tim Sheader, Dave Malloy’s searing sung-through musical will scorch itself into our memories for a long time to come.

Malloy has taken a seventy-page segment from Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ and moulded it into a passionate, original musical that interweaves the fates of the two protagonists: the story of Natasha’s downfall and Pierre’s awakening. A tale of despair and of hope. Surrounded by a colourful array of characters, it could be a convoluted affair, but Malloy’s libretto clarifies the narrative with mischievous simplicity and imaginative ingenuity. We are propelled into the story by way of the ‘Prologue’; playfully executed like a cross between a memory game and an introductory meeting for a covert club. A few melodious words from each, between the repeated refrain that one of its members is absent. ‘Andrey isn’t here’. Andrey is off fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. His fiancé is here though. The beautiful Countess Natasha, tossed into the centre of the space – a smouldering comet on her journey from gleeful, betrothed ingenue to tragic heroine.

Chumisa Dornford-May grabs the roller-coaster ride of Natasha’s role with complete abandon and commitment. Her songs of innocence capsized by harsh experience. All around her is seduction. The hunters and the hunted; cuckolds and adulterers. In Moscow, waiting for the return of her fiancé, Natasha falls in love with the casually dismissive yet alluringly sexy Anatole (Jamie Muscato in gorgeous, rock-star, swaggering form). Anatole’s sister, Hélène, is delighted by the illicit affair. After all, it is de rigueur. She herself has made a cuckold of her husband – the deeply unhappy Pierre. Cat Simmons’ manipulative Hélène is sultry and sexy yet encased in ice, while Declan Bennett’s Pierre is dishevelled in appearance and self-esteem, yet the heat from his growing awareness can warm the hardest heart.

The performances are uniformly superb, the skin of each character ripped open by the flaming crossbow of passion. We want to know what is going to happen but at the same time want to stay in each moment for as long as possible. Malloy’s score (which he also orchestrated for the ten-piece band) is impossibly eclectic and wonderfully fearless. A mix of folk, anarcho-punk, techno, baroque, chamber and New Wave. One moment heartbreaking ballads, the next storms of dramatic scales and diminished sevenths. The musical numbers are bolstered by the ensemble – one minute a celestial choir, the next a band of whirling dervishes at a rave. The musicians have no break, and just when you think you’ve reached a musical highlight, another appears on the horizon. And the singing is extraordinary – both in virtuosity and emotion. Bennett’s solo number ‘Dust and Ashes’ sweeps us away one moment; then Dornford-May lures us back in with the heartfelt ‘No One Else’. Simmons’ smoky vocals bewitch during ‘Charming’. Maimuna Memon, as Natasha’s cousin Sonya who vainly tries to save her, beguiles with a hypnotic performance and mesmerising voice – her plaintive ‘Sonya Alone’ up there with the peaks of the set list.

Evie Gurney’s costumes are as lawless and rebellious as the score. Like a job lot stolen from the wardrobe of a New Romantic music video they scream sex, drugs and rock n roll. Period and modern, the design mirrors the entire production which defies time and place. We know we are in nineteenth century Moscow, but we could equally be in New York’s Studio 54 nightclub in the nineteen-seventies.

“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” is a trailblazing show. Against Leslie Travers’ harsh, minimalist backdrop it dazzles at every level. It is spectacular and heartrending, right up to its closing number. Sung quietly to the accompaniment of a simple piano motif, it rises like the great comet of 1812, into an imagined starry sky. It brings with it the promise of a new life. It’s not the end of the world after all. The exhilaration ripples through everybody in the room. A soaring success.

NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812

Donmar Warehouse

Reviewed on 17th December 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Johan Persson

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SKELETON CREW | ★★★★ | July 2024

THE HUMAN BODY | ★★★ | February 2024

LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE | ★★★★ | October 2021

NATASHA

We’re now on BLUESKY – click to visit and follow

★★★★★

“Always tongue-in-cheek, the show is thrillingly funny and villainously clever”

Sometimes a good – and fun – way of gauging a show’s reception is to listen in to people’s conversations at the interval. In the plush surroundings of Richmond Theatre’s bar, a recurring comment was along the lines of ‘it’s a bit like Operation Mincemeat’. So, first things first. It isn’t. The correct comparison is ‘Operation Mincemeat’ is a lot like ‘The 39 Steps’. The latter predates the former by a couple of decades at least. The most striking comparison, though, is the implausible ability to take a fairly serious subject and turn it into comedy without losing its essence; and to do so with a very small cast that cover a multitude of characters.

Patrick Barlow’s “The 39 Steps” has just four actors playing over 150 characters. Originally written by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon it premiered in 1996. Barlow rewrote the script in 2005, staying faithful to the small-scale structure but taking it on its large-scale journey to the West End where it stayed for nine years. Inevitably it travelled across the pond where, on Broadway, it was originally given the title ‘Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps’. Barlow’s adaptation draws as much – if not more – on Hitchcock’s 1935 film as it does on John Buchan’s 1915 novel. His inspired comic treatment of the story has turned the play into a timeless classic.

Tom Byrne brilliantly plays the unwitting and hapless hero, Richard Hannay. With cut glass accent and even sharper precision in his depiction of a comedic matinee idol. Drawn into a mad, cat-and-mouse journey that takes him from London to the remote Scottish coastline and back again, he is pursued by both the police, and a band of dangerous spies who are conspiring to steal secret documents from the Foreign Office. Safeena Ladha is a delight as all three of Hannay’s love interests; the doomed Annabella (who kickstarts the whole adventure for Hannay before perishing in his arms); returning to the stage as Scottish farmer’s wife, Margaret; and also popping up throughout as Pamela, the archetypal ‘will-they-won’t-they’, ‘love-hate’ heroine. Every single other role is covered by Eugene McCoy and Maddie Rice, often playing many roles in the same scene. Their comic timing is flawless throughout and the character changes jaw-droppingly swift.

Maria Aitken’s staging is deceptively stripped back and simple. The whole show is like a conjuring trick. Sleight of hand scene changes and ingenious use of props and costume evoke mood, location; suspense and relief, all in quickfire succession. It is almost like a play within a play. Not only are we watching the story unfold, but we are also witnessing this crazy quartet of actors attempt to carry off the improbable feat (and quite rightly they bring on the formidable backstage crew at curtain call whose stress levels during the last couple of hours must have been tripping the fuse).

Always tongue-in-cheek, the show is thrillingly funny and villainously clever. References to all Hitchcock’s films are scattered throughout the dialogue, the titles name-dropped and represented visually and musically. Even Hitchcock himself has a cameo role, albeit in shadow puppet form. The detail is subtle yet obvious at the same time. You can be forgiven for missing some of the jokes due to the sheer pace of the production. A pace that appears chaotic and improvised but is, in fact, precisely disciplined and choreographed. Successfully crossing the line between suspense and comedy, and between realism and parody, is a master’s skill. These four actors have it. “The 39 Steps” is a ‘must see’, whether you’re a fan of thrillers or comedies. Or both. Or even neither.

NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812

Donmar Warehouse

★★★★★

“The performances are uniformly superb, the skin of each character ripped open by the flaming crossbow of passion”

NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812

Donmar Warehouse

Reviewed on 17th December 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Johan Persson

Previously reviewed at this venue:

NATASHA

NATASHA

NATASHA

THE 39 STEPS at Richmond Theatre

★★★★★

“Always tongue-in-cheek, the show is thrillingly funny and villainously clever”

THE 39 STEPS at Richmond Theatre as part of UK Tour

Reviewed on 4th April 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

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AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN

AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN