★★★★

“a subtle and quiet portrayal of people who feel real and vivid”

Not a lot happens in this play but that’s the crux of its genius. It elevates the everyday. It’s about everything and nothing.

Written in 2014 and first performed in New York in 2016, Skeleton Crew follows four workers in a car manufacturing plant in Detroit. A foreman and three floor workers. As their jobs are threatened, the quiet day to day of their lives unravel, with each facing the uncertainty of their future.

Watching the steady and inevitable disintegration of this department sounds bleak. Somehow, it’s not. The humanity and quiet kindness in these characters gives the audience hope. As the story slowly unfurls, it remains compelling and strangely optimistic.

Dominique Morrisseau’s script is tight. Each line oozes with character. Dancing between philosophy and banter, the dialogue snaps and sizzles. And she knows when to hold back. There’s power in what isn’t said. Matthew Xia leans into that silence in his direction. There are moments of stillness, of pause. Watching people get ready for work, alone, tells you so much about them.

Many of these moments are not silent, just without dialogue. Nicola T Chang’s carefully crafted sound design gives each character a soundtrack, quietly signalling whose story will be the focus of each scene. From Aretha to J Dilla, to the sound of the fridge whirring, this attention to detail makes the world, and the characters, feel more vibrant.

All of the performances are strong – especially from newcomer Branden Cook. However all eyes were glued to Pamela Nomvete in a remarkable performance as the jaded mother hen Faye.

Ultz was the show’s designer, and perhaps undelivered a little. The set was naturalistic – a break room – but each scene was intercut with the clanking of shadowy machinery, an illusion assisted by Ciarán Cunningham’s lighting design. There was a moment of pyrotechnics, which was exciting, but felt a little out of place. For a designer with such an impressive track record, this isn’t Ultz’s best work.

Don’t come to this show expecting surprising plot twists, or a fresh political take. But come for the beauty in a subtle and quiet portrayal of people who feel real and vivid.

THE BIG LIFE at the Theatre Royal Stratford East

★★★★★

“The whole show is a wondrous vision”

When front of house inform you that the show is approximately three hours long, the reaction is to smile politely while inwardly groaning and hoping there’s an espresso machine behind the bar at the interval. In the case of “The Big Life” however, after what is, in all actuality, a little over three hours we are still wanting more. It has been twenty years since this absolute gem of a musical premiered at Theatre Royal Stratford East (before transferring to the West End), and its revival has come none too soon.

Set in the mid-fifties, the show opens on board the Windrush; sailing from the Caribbean carrying its voyagers heading for a new life. The characters are full of hope, with great expectations and personal aspirations. We all know the reality. But although this show touches on it, it is no ‘blaxploitation’ polemic. It is instead a true celebration of a culture to which we owe a huge debt.

Subtitled ‘the Ska Musical’, Paul Joseph’s music keeps the blood pumping and the feet tapping throughout. And during the more tender, balladic moments, our heartstrings almost snap. It is Bob Marley meets Louis Jordan. A crossbreed of ‘One Love’ and ‘Five Guys Named Moe’, with more than a splash of Leiber and Stoller thrown in. So where can you go wrong? Adding Shakespeare to the mix sounds like a risk too far, but the ingenious take on the bard’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” is a masterstroke of theatrical reimagining. Paul Sirett and Tameka Empson’s book (Sirett is also the lyricist) even manages to improve on it while staying remarkably faithful.

On board the ship are four young men who make a pact to abstain from women and drink for three years in order to work hard and make something of their lives. The women in their lives have other ideas. The admiral of the ship follows them all onto dry land, igniting fire into the cold, grey, unwelcoming landscape, and moreover igniting mischief into the lives of the star-crossed individuals.

You don’t need to be familiar with Shakespeare’s storyline to follow the action. The biggest threat of losing the plot is through the sheer multitude of laugh-out-loud moments. The cast collectively throw the term ‘triple threat’ to the wind, multiplying their talents left, right and centre. Co-writer Empson presides over the evening as Mrs Aphrodite, commenting on the piece and filling in details from her majestic place in a box in the royal circle. In the guise of a forthright, Jamaican, first-generation immigrant, she flamboyantly and hilariously dispenses gossip and shameless commentary through the scene changes. Her perfectly timed interjections gently morph into more serious subject matter, poignantly and subtlety drawing attention to the darker side – particularly the recent Windrush scandals. The disturbing irony, and the fate of these migrants is not ignored and is treated by the writers with a respect and an authority that lends untold depth to the tremendous applause that greets the curtain call.

Onstage, meanwhile, the party continues. The seven-piece band continue to belt out the numbers with high energy while the ensemble cast is spreading joy like there’s no tomorrow. So much zest is bouncing off the stage that we forget that these actors are probably among the hardest working performers in London currently. I’d love to namecheck everyone, but each one is a star. I’d love to give a step-by-step account of the story and index the song list for you, but each number is a showstopper. The whole show is a wondrous vision. The score is a dream. Twenty years ago, it transferred to the West End. The standing ovation it received this time around will surely guide it there again. In double-time, of course – it is a ‘Ska musical’ after all.

Tag Archives: Ingrid Mackinnon

SKELETON CREW

★★★★

Donmar Warehouse

SKELETON CREW at the Donmar Warehouse

★★★★

“a subtle and quiet portrayal of people who feel real and vivid”

SKELETON CREW at the Donmar Warehouse

Reviewed on 6th July 2024

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Helen Murray

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE HUMAN BODY | ★★★ | February 2024

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

SKELETON CREW

SKELETON CREW

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THE BIG LIFE

★★★★★

Theatre Royal Stratford East

THE BIG LIFE at the Theatre Royal Stratford East

★★★★★

“The whole show is a wondrous vision”