★★★★

“Vaguely Gothic, but down to earth; a touch of the supernatural brushing against domestic tragedy”

A crackling wail, somewhere between a synthesized didgeridoo and a death rattle, rises from the red earth, swelling into an anguished crescendo while three nameless women hiss with venom, spitting bitter fear and loathing at a corpse we cannot see. The mother and two daughters move and speak in staccato, jarring rhythms; locked in their state of shock and disbelief, dread and relief. The lifeless body is their husband and father, who gasped his last with a bullet through the neck.

This is not going to be comfortable viewing. Angus Cerini’s “The Bleeding Tree” is a hard-hitting murder ballad, poetic in its delivery yet full of raw rage. Mariah Gale is the mother while Elizabeth Dulau and Alexandra Jensen play the daughters, interchangeable and often indistinguishable from each other. The emotional power is impressive as they sway between culpability and victimhood. Their abuser, now lifeless on the ground, still torments them.

The one flaw in this otherwise impeccable hour-long play is that we are never sure whose side we are on. But then maybe that is the whole point of Cerini’s writing. The lines between the abused and the abuser become blurred. We never learn the full extent or true nature of the suffering caused by the deceased, but we are stealthily led to believe his end is justified. Yet somehow, we are not asked to judge. We are witnesses but not the jury.

Ali Hunter’s atmospheric lighting places the action in an eternal twilight. Jasmine Swan’s simple setting cleverly conveys the internal claustrophobia of these characters while also evoking the bleak terracotta backdrop of the Outback where further perils may lie. A knock at the door causes panic. The women ripple in unison as their savage secret is in danger of being discovered by their neighbours. Gale, Dulau and Jensen deftly switch into the roles of the outsiders; Mr Jones and Mrs Smith, and the postman-come-policeman who feed them with alibis and cover-ups. The beautifully flowing dialogue belies the complex issues bubbling underneath. Many a blind eye is being turned. Yet it seems that the events that led to this bloody conclusion were also equally ignored by those that perhaps should have seen it coming.

Sophie Drake’s minimal staging allows the cast to focus on the crucial and radical text. We learn what ‘The Bleeding Tree’ of the play’s title refers to, and it is quite harrowing. The protagonists may be left with mixed feelings eating away at them, from the inside out, but that is nothing compared to the literal fate of the decomposing body of evidence before them that needs to be disposed of.

“The Bleeding Tree” forces us to face important questions. Instead of offering answers it dresses them in atmospheric layers of theatricality. The result is something quite extraordinary. Vaguely Gothic, but down to earth; a touch of the supernatural brushing against domestic tragedy. Cerini writes with the pen of a poet but the mind of a crime writer. A thrilling combination that, combined with the excellent performances, is a theatrical experience that makes us look at its extreme subject matter in a new light.

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: Jasmine Swan

THE BLEEDING TREE

★★★★

Southwark Playhouse Borough

THE BLEEDING TREE at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“Vaguely Gothic, but down to earth; a touch of the supernatural brushing against domestic tragedy”

THE BLEEDING TREE at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 3rd June 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

FUN AT THE BEACH ROMP-BOMP-A-LOMP!! | ★★★ | May 2024

MAY 35th | ★★★½ | May 2024

SAPPHO | ★★ | May 2024

CAPTAIN AMAZING | ★★★★★ | May 2024

WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARSE FOR ENGLAND | ★★★★★ | April 2024

SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE VALLEY OF FEAR | ★★½ | March 2024

POLICE COPS: THE MUSICAL | ★★★★ | March 2024

CABLE STREET – A NEW MUSICAL | ★★★ | February 2024

BEFORE AFTER | ★★★ | February 2024

AFTERGLOW | ★★★★ | January 2024

THE BLEEDING TREE

THE BLEEDING TREE

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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”