Tag Archives: Henry Maynard

BRONCO BILLY – THE MUSICAL

★★★

Charing Cross Theatre

BRONCO BILLY – THE MUSICAL at Charing Cross Theatre

★★★

“it has the thrill of a fairground ride that plants an irresistible smile on our faces as we bravely hang on”

Welcome to the Wild West. It’s not a place on the map, but a place in your heart – or rather Bronco Billy’s heart. A world that tells you that you don’t belong, you ‘gotta’ be strong, and never give up on your dreams. You can be anything you want. Or so it seems. But just in case you missed the greeting card message, it is repeated in verse, prose, rhythm and rhyme many a time over the next couple of hours.

Billy (Tarinn Callender) is a Brooklyn born go-getter, reinvented as a gun-slinging, gun-toting, gun-firing cowboy. A damaged Vietnam veteran he conceals his purple heart, but wears his real one on his sleeve. And it turns out his heart is as big as his personality. Callender is immensely likeable and engaging as the leader of his rag-taggle travelling troupe, performing their Wild West show across America. Part vaudeville, part circus, and wholly chaotic, these cowboys are as ramshackle as the tour bus that is their home.

It is difficult to place them in time. We could be on the frontier in the seventeenth century, or in the depression era of the 1920s, but a casual reference to Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power across the pond places us firmly in 1979. Likewise, Chip Rosenbloom and John Torres’ score wanders the wheat fields and Hillbilly highways in search of a hook; visiting the Grand Ole Opry before rocking up in the disco hostels of the Village People. And we’re back in the seventies. It’s a bumpy ride for sure; coherence hanging by a thread and plausibility in tatters. Yet it has the thrill of a fairground ride that plants an irresistible smile on our faces as we bravely hang on.

Based on the 1980 Clint Eastwood comedy-drama, original scriptwriter Dennis Hackman has adapted and updated the story for the stage, enlisting Rosenbloom and Torres, with additional lyrics courtesy of Michele Brourman. Billy and his company are en route to Hollywood chasing their dream opportunity. But back in New York chocolate heiress Antoinette Lily (Emily Benjamin) is running for her life from her family who have thirty days to make sure she is dead and buried so they can commandeer her inheritance. The two meet by chance at a gas station. Antoinette changes her name to Lily Rose and joins the travelling show and they embark on a will-they-won’t-they romance. The pantomime villains are in hot pursuit led by the wicked stepmother Constance (Victoria Hamilton-Barritt) and hired hitman Sinclair St Clair (Alexander McMorran).

“What draws the most attention are the vocal performances, which is where the principals shine”

Hunter Bird’s upbeat production is as pacey as they get, but somehow feels laboured, not quite sure in which direction it is heading. Stumbling on slapstick and tripping up on clichés that roll like tumbleweed across the dusty terrain towards its predictable finale. Overacting is the keyword, with Hamilton-Barritt, surprisingly, the main culprit. The sideshow players are more nuanced, most notably Karen Mavundukure’s powerhouse ringmaster Doc Blue, and triple threat Helen K Wint as Lorraine who keeps one step ahead of the rest.

What draws the most attention are the vocal performances, which is where the principals shine. Benjamin and Callender – both in fine voice throughout – have the range and refinement to carry the show, culminating in some magical duetting. Hamilton-Barritt delights with some villainous crooning. It is clear that the performers are all having a ball and eventually the audience are infected with the tongue-in-cheek glee that springs from the stage. The second act cranks up the gears, aided throughout by Amy Jane Cook’s revolve set design, centring on the tour bus: a life size box of tricks, ever changing and opening up to reveal the many locations; from the fields of Kansas to the plush New York interiors to the Hollywood film lots.

As ramshackle as Bronco Billy’s Wild West Show, the musical shares Billy’s dreams and ambitions. Like the journey he leads us on, it is a bit of a tough ride, but let’s hope the show doesn’t give up on those dreams. It will get there eventually.


BRONCO BILLY – THE MUSICAL at Charing Cross Theatre

Reviewed on 31st January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by The Other Richard

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SLEEPING BEAUTY TAKES A PRICK! | ★★★★ | November 2023
REBECCA | ★★★★ | September 2023
GEORGE TAKEI’S ALLEGIANCE | ★★★★ | January 2023
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY | ★★★★ | November 2022
THE MILK TRAIN DOESN’T STOP HERE ANYMORE | ★★★ | October 2022
RIDE | ★★★★★ | August 2022
VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE | ★★★ | November 2021
PIPPIN | ★★★★ | July 2021

BRONCO BILLY

BRONCO BILLY

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The Tragedy of Macbeth

★★★★

Southwark Playhouse

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH at Southwark Playhouse

★★★★

The Tragedy of Macbeth

“It is a whirlwind, whirligig production.”

 

You wander into the space at Southwark Playhouse at your peril, like an outsider may unwittingly stray through the gates of Bedlam. Flabbergast Theatre’s take on ‘The Scottish Play’ eschews Jacobean pomp, placing us somewhere in an uncertain dusty battlefield. A prolonged pre-show has the company writhing demonically, not yet fully formed. Caked in clay they are yet to be moulded into their characters. It is bestial and raw. With fractured moans and tics, elastic limbs and fits they writhe insect-like. Repetitive. Like nomadic animals in captivity – indicative of the madness into which we are soon to be plunged. “’Tis time, ‘tis time”. It doesn’t take us long at all to be swamped in their madness. We are already there. It is primitive, tribal. A mix of middle earth, pre-history, Norse warmongering, druid dystopia. A heightened apocalypse. Taiko rhythms deafen the senses, and the witches proclaim their prophecies in unison. The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

We wonder where we can go from here. The extraordinary opening cannot afford to dip, but has it got the energy to rise. Its sheer strength proves to be the one weakness that keeps the performance on the one level throughout. Thrilling as it is, it is relentless, leaving us wanting more of the stillness. More relief. But when those moments do come, they are truly striking, and the combined talents of this cohesive ensemble shine through. Attuned and in tune, the performers interact as one: their individual backgrounds adding rich flavours that “in the caldron boil and bake”. Physical theatre, puppetry, clown work, percussion, ritual, mythology, European folk music, and medieval chant are brought together under artistic director Henry Maynard’s steely direction.

Maynard is also tonight’s Macbeth (not always – some cast share roles and interchange on a nightly basis). A rich-voiced, booming presence not quite emasculated by Briony O’Callaghan’s Lady Macbeth. O’Callaghan, vampiric in her thirst for blood and status, gives a striking performance, both baiting and taming Maynard’s feral Macbeth. The supernatural nature of Shakespeare’s play is powerfully portrayed, often relying on just the performers’ bodies. Deep red wine symbolises the copious spilt blood. At times the wine and blood are as one, especially when Simon Gleave beautifully crackles as Banquo’s ghost, spitting and pouring claret-hued and venomous fear into the veins of Macbeth. Flabbergast are not afraid to go out on a limb, while remaining loyal to Shakespeare’s text. Comic relief comes courtesy of Dale Wylde’s Porter; a rubber-faced, New-Age Mr Bean at the gates of the castle.

Multi-rolling Daniel Chrisostomou comes into his own, particularly in Act Two as Macduff, plotting his revenge, while Kyll Thomas-Cole’s eye-catching Malcolm teases and tests his motives. One of the more riveting scenes, on a par with the stillness of the soliloquies. These moments, though, struggle to be remembered once the panoramic bombast subsides. The symmetry, synchronicity and physicality of the performance is undeniably exhilarating. It does not probe too deeply into the sexuality or the chemistry between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In today’s climate one expects the subject matter inherent in the text – what does it mean to be a man, or a woman? – to be milked for all its worth and given the ‘correct’ treatment. This show, deliberately or otherwise, admiringly leaves it up to the audience, respecting intelligence by not spooning out popular judgement. The resonance stands on its own.

It is a whirlwind, whirligig production. One that captures the ethos of “Macbeth”, even if the story is one of the casualties, strewn among the body count. Yet it is a powerful, thrilling and quite extraordinary interpretation. A unique, sensory overload that can probably be heard across Southeast London, but should definitely be experienced up close.

 

 

Reviewed on 16th March 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Michael Lynch

 

 

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse:

 

Smoke | ★★ | February 2023
The Walworth Farce | ★★★ | February 2023
Hamlet | ★★★ | January 2023
Who’s Holiday! | ★★★ | December 2022
Doctor Faustus | ★★★★★ | September 2022
The Prince | ★★★ | September 2022
Tasting Notes | ★★ | July 2022
Evelyn | ★★★ | June 2022
The Lion | ★★★ | May 2022
Anyone Can Whistle | ★★★★ | April 2022

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