CRUEL INTENTIONS at The Other Palace

★★★★

“an evening of unadulterated fun and escapism, with a fabulous soundtrack delivered with passion, right up to its climax”

With a core cast of eight triple-threats, bolstered by an equally talented ensemble, “Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical” bursts onto the stage at The Other Palace in a glorious blaze of fun and virtuosity. However cruel the protagonists may be, the true intentions of this talented troupe are to entertain and send us home with our heads full of ‘poptastic’ tunes and a smile as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s. Ay, there’s the rub – the toxic treachery is let off too lightly. Based on the 1999 teen romantic drama, in turn based on the eighteenth-century French morality tale ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’, the wages of sin are just a token penalty. Yet to their credit, Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble – the creators of this memorable musical – inject some of the behaviour of the characters with a modern-day sensibility to redress the balance.

But such conjecture misses the point and is ill-suited to a show that thrives on not taking itself seriously. Jonathan O’Boyle’s racy and pacey production dishes out the story and the jokes in delightful, digestible bitesize scenes with brilliantly choice hit songs for punchlines. Which is where the ingenuity really shines, for it never feels like a juke-box musical. Even in the most abrupt jolt from dialogue to song, the transition is smooth, natural, uncannily appropriate, and often very, very funny.

It is a winning formula, proven by its Off-Broadway debut seven years ago which was extended three times back in 2017. Even if the London revival is somewhat emotionally disengaging, we are drawn into the protagonists’ world as we follow the sociopathic stepsiblings’ shenanigans. The charming but devilish couple place a bet. Kathryn (Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky) wagers on whether Sebastian (Daniel Bravo) can deflower their high school headmaster’s daughter, Annette (Abbie Budden). As the couple set out to destroy the innocent girl, they find themselves in a dangerous game of revenge and malice. Kathryn is equally intent on corrupting new girl Cecile (Rose Galbraith) using Sebastian as a pawn – among others including music teacher Ronald (Nickcolia King-N’Da), gay couple Blaine (Josh Barnett) and Greg (Barney Wilkinson), and Cecile’s nouveau-riche mother, Bunny Caldwell (Jess Buckby).

“Gary Lloyd’s power-driven and energised choreography is devilishly divine”

Each cast member has ample opportunity to showcase their outstanding vocal abilities as they soar through the musical numbers, giving a whole new slant on the original lyrics. It will be difficult to disassociate, now, Ace of Base’s ‘The Sign’ from Cecile’s first orgasm, or TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’ from Bunny’s innate racism. Elsewhere a real poignancy pours from Jewel’s ‘Foolish Games’, courtesy of Abbie Budden’s heartfelt portrayal of the prim Annette. Reaping the biggest applause is Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky’s Kathryn whose outstanding solos almost make you forgive her character’s maleficence. The Counting Crows ‘Colourblind’ is a gorgeous duet for Daniel Bravo and Budden, before the ensemble kicks in with spine-tingling harmonies.

There is little time to do so, but between songs the performers manage to flesh out personality onto the skeletal bones of their personas. Rose Galbraith is at once raunchy and kittenish as the ingénue Cecile, while Budden’s virginal Annette bewitches with sex appeal and sassiness despite the prim exterior. Daniel Bravo’s amoral coolness melts along the path of redemption, whereas McCaulsky remains as cold as ice: the self-confessed mistress of self-absorption. Her performance is indeed a highlight, although generously allowing the stars surrounding her to shine as bright.

There are inevitably moments of implausibility. And for all its salaciousness and profanity, the show is somehow not very shocking. There is a clean gloss that renders the scandalous a touch scandal-free. It is all about sex, but is sometimes sexless as though the intimacy directors are on overtime. But let’s not single them out – it seems the rest of the creative team are on overtime too. Gary Lloyd’s power-driven and energised choreography is devilishly divine. Chris Whybrow’s sound is crisp and perfectly balanced to pinpoint each vocal and each note from the four-piece band, led by musical director Denise Crowley.

Slick, snappy and sometimes sensational, “Cruel Intentions” pokes fun at its source material and itself. Who cares about its intentions – cruel or otherwise? The result is an evening of unadulterated fun and escapism, with a fabulous soundtrack delivered with passion, right up to its climax.

CRUEL INTENTIONS at The Other Palace

Reviewed on 30th January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

A VERY VERY BAD CINDERELLA | ★★★★ | December 2023

TROMPE L’OEIL | ★★★ | September 2023

DOM – THE PLAY | ★★★★ | February 2023

GHOSTED – ANOTHER F**KING CHRISTMAS CAROL | ★★★★★ | December 2022

GLORY RIDE | ★★★ | November 2022

MILLENNIALS | ★★★ | July 2022

CRUEL INTENTIONS

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★★★★

“Max Harrison’s staging is beautifully faithful and sympathetic to the writing.”

Memories contain errors. Memory is highly malleable; therefore, often unreliable. It can be altered by emotional state from the very second it becomes a memory. Or many years later. Yet most of us like to think our own recollections are infallible, even when we know we might be twisting it. That’s just survival, according to Philip Ridley who explores these themes in his 2007 play “Leaves of Glass”. The middle episode of his ‘Brothers Trilogy’, it was preceded by ‘Mercury Fur’ and followed by ‘Piranha Heights’.

“Leaves of Glass” centres around two brothers, Steven (Ned Costello) and Barry (Joseph Potter). Five years apart in age, but on the surface, they couldn’t be further apart from each other. Steven runs a successful graffiti removal business while Barry, despite being a bit of a dogsbody in the firm, is a struggling artist. Steven appears to have his head screwed on, whereas Barry’s is lost in drink and hallucinations. Their respective memories of their father, whom they lost at a young age, are on different tracks. Yet there are similarities that bond them. But like similar poles of a magnet, they repel each other. Their mother Liz (Kacey Ainsworth) tentatively holds them together, despite her affections wavering between the two as wildly as her own recollections. The only solid presence is Steven’s pregnant wife Debbie (Katie Eldred) who is aware of the fragility of the family, but her tolerance doesn’t stretch to assuring nothing gets broken.

The intensity of the play comes not just from the spoken word, but the silence that surrounds a traumatic incident from the brothers’ childhood that neither seems willing to talk about. When the silence snaps, the effect is shocking. The pieces come together but nothing fits, as the final battle of memories is like a duel to the death.

“Sam Glossop’s underscore splits the play’s segments like splinters of sound that throw us off balance”

The intensity of the play also undoubtedly comes from the performances. Costello and Potter both capture the inherent danger in Ridley’s script and in their characters. Costello in particular, like a brooding prisoner who never leaves the stage. Neither can escape their version of the truth – a truth that we can only keep guessing about. Eldred’s Debbie, the outsider, is more grounded but not quite strong enough to dodge the fallout from the brothers’ mind games. Ainsworth is a mix of concern and complicity as the mother who inflates her own ability to cope. ‘I’ve buried two parents and a husband’ she continually reminds us, ‘I think I’m capable of carrying some tea and biscuits’. The little hints of domesticity are a thin gauze over the deep cracks that run through this family.

Ridley’s signature is splashed all over the piece, although less shocking, and perhaps more thoughtful, than some of his other work. Max Harrison’s staging is beautifully faithful and sympathetic to the writing. Some scenes are short, like pieces of broken glass. Other scenes start when they are already up and running. They end unresolved. It is discomforting and reflects the unravelling of the minds of these four protagonists. The actors come into the scenes from different angles – as jagged as the eponymous leaves of glass. Alex Lewer’s lighting is just as evocative, swinging from harshness to near darkness like a horror film’s bare light bulb; while Sam Glossop’s underscore splits the play’s segments like splinters of sound that throw us off balance.

It is difficult to tell the difference between a lie and a truth misremembered. This family is built on both – a pretty unstable foundation to begin with. It is not always easy viewing to witness, but the craftmanship of the acting and the writing force us not to look away. Memory may be fragile, but “Leaves of Glass” will be difficult to forget.

CRUEL INTENTIONS at The Other Palace

★★★★

“an evening of unadulterated fun and escapism, with a fabulous soundtrack delivered with passion, right up to its climax”

“Gary Lloyd’s power-driven and energised choreography is devilishly divine”

CRUEL INTENTIONS at The Other Palace

Reviewed on 30th January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

CRUEL INTENTIONS

CRUEL INTENTIONS

LEAVES OF GLASS at the Park Theatre

★★★★

“Max Harrison’s staging is beautifully faithful and sympathetic to the writing.”

“Sam Glossop’s underscore splits the play’s segments like splinters of sound that throw us off balance”

LEAVES OF GLASS at the Park Theatre

Reviewed on 25th January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

LEAVES OF GLASS

LEAVES OF GLASS