★★★★

“Each number is a standalone gem”

It is often the case that when artists achieve a degree of success, in whatever field they operate, their early back-catalogue is revisited. Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Olivier Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are best known for their work on ‘La La Land’, ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and ‘The Greatest Showman’. “Edges – A Song Cycle” was written when the pair started working together as freshmen at the University of Michigan in 2005. Having both been involved in the school’s musical theatre production, they were inspired to create their own a year before they graduated.

It shows its age in the pared back revival at the Phoenix Arts Club – and it also shows the author’s age at the time of writing. The lyrical content of the fourteen songs focuses on the trials and tribulations of moving into adulthood, with the inevitable and somewhat predictable moments of self-discovery. There is no narrative as such that links the musical numbers. Instead, each song is a tale in itself. A recital; rich in structure and harmony, and lyrically strong despite a few dips into the clichés of self-doubt. The opening song is the main culprit with its chorus of ‘I’m afraid to be who I am’ – but Pasek and Paul do redeem themselves when the cycle comes full circle, and the line is rephrased for a rousing finale.

Between the bookends, the fourteen songs are chapters in which the characters bear their souls, their dreams, their doubts and yearnings, anxieties, frustrations and loves lost and gained – from the various perspectives of friends, lovers, parents and siblings. The influences extend beyond musical theatre, with echoes of modern American songwriters appearing throughout. Billy Joel’s ‘Movin’ Out’ is strongly referenced in the second upbeat number (unfortunately no song list was available at the performance), while shades of Randy Newman, and even Carol King, permeate throughout the evening. Each number is a standalone gem, but when strung together over time they do lose a bit of their colour. Like a monochrome festoon, of fairly low wattage.

“The sole accompaniment is piano, but we can hear the potential of full arrangements in our heads thanks to musical director’s Ben Ward’s fluency and eclecticism”

But the performances light up the piece and bring it fully to life. The characters are named simply Man One, Woman One, Man Two and Woman Two; played respectively by Cameron Collins, Holly Adams, Gareth Evans and Maia Gough. Individually their voices are perfectly suited to the material and faultless in their delivery. Collectively, the close harmonies are simply a joy to the ear. Taylor Jay’s staging uses the basement club to great effect, allowing the singers to move between two stages within the space. End-on for the most part, the characters drift occasionally from the mainland to an island out in the auditorium, from which the more plaintive, solo numbers are delivered. The sense of isolation is heightened, particularly when reaching out to a counterpart on the main stage.

The sole accompaniment is piano, but we can hear the potential of full arrangements in our heads thanks to musical director’s Ben Ward’s fluency and eclecticism. Ward mixes virtuosity with sensitivity, following the moods of the lyrics with a conductor’s flair and judgement, seamlessly connecting the song vignettes with an invisible thread.

It is a thread that is only just held together, despite the fine performances and craftmanship of the compositions. There is an overriding question of where it is going, or what this is all for. The song cycle has the air of an early demo, found in the loft. Or a bonus-track CD. Whether it can straddle the crest of the wave its authors are riding is an unavoidable challenge. But for eighty minutes we can ignore the speculation and enjoy the retrospection instead; allowing ourselves to drift back in time to witness the gentle poignancy of a fledgling American song writing duo.

EXHIBITIONISTS at the King’s Head Theatre

★★

“For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype”

The King’s Head was the UK’s oldest pub theatre when it closed its doors last August. Less than six months later – though years in the planning – the doors reopen to the new purpose-built space. The site is steeped in theatrical history, and many of us stepping through the doors on opening night for the inaugural production carry fond memories or have personal connections with the old space. The spirit of many great names in British theatre still lingers, some of them now ghosts. Watching perhaps. We can only speculate as the evidence is whitewashed over, and little remains, despite directly connecting to the old dressing room. None of the atmosphere has crossed the threshold. No memorabilia. No link to its colourful history. No echoes from the past. Nevertheless, as we descend the stairwells down to the subterranean black box, the anticipation is palpable.

“Exhibitionists” is an apt play to open the first season. In line with the LGBTQ+ leanings the venue has adopted over the years, it also harks back to a romantic golden age of twentieth century theatre. In their programme notes, writers Shaun McKenna and Andrew Van Sickle, reference Terence Rattigan and Alan Ayckbourn, while also drawing parallels with the screwball wit of Hollywood’s Charles Lederer. Bizarrely no mention is made of Noël Coward, even though the plot of “Exhibitionists” is lifted, lock, stock, and barrel from Coward’s thirties comedy of manners, ‘Private Lives’. Almost. Except it lacks the manners, or Coward’s mastery of the language. The subversiveness of Coward’s sexual identity was reflected in his plays – particularly ‘Private Lives’ – but as well as being a closet gay play, it is a classic that maintains universal appeal. “Exhibitionists” is overt, brash and blatant, but its focus is much too narrow.

Set in the San Francisco art world, Conor (Ashley D Gayle) and Robbie (Robert Rees) are living separate lives having split from their volatile, open relationship years previously. They both now have new, younger partners. Conor is with upcoming film-maker Mal (Jake Mitchell-Jones) while Robbie has hooked up with the heteroflexible Rayyan (Rolando Montecalvo). The two couples stumble upon one another at an art exhibition. The exes reunite, reignite and relocate swiftly to a nearby motel run by the implausibly eager Sebastian (Øystein Lode) with the new partners in hot pursuit. Squabbles and sex alternate as the farce unravels.

“The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped”

The premise is predictable and, for all its profanity, not at all subversive. For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype. Which is surprising, but also unsettling in that it seems to be unwittingly marginalising the culture it represents. There is little sense of celebration. The in-jokes jar, as though written by an outsider looking in, which renders the piece exclusive, eradicating its wider appeal in one foul swoop. Meanwhile, promiscuity and predatory behaviour are promoted in a way that, if presented in any other environment, would be condemned.

The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped. Bronagh Lagan’s direction moves the action snappily, encumbered however by superfluous entrances and exits (which become as repetitive as the dialogue); and more so by the poor sightlines created by the venue’s raked seating.

“Exhibitionists” is a rather unsubtle revival of a delicately intelligent original. A poor man’s Coward. For half a century the King’s Head has paved the way for pub theatre. The previously shabby auditorium has attracted top writers, directors and actors throughout its eclectic and eccentric history. The atmosphere hasn’t crossed over to the new venue, and the opening show is not one to draw it in. The ghosts will want a new space to haunt. Let us hope the audiences don’t follow them because, with time on its side, the King’s Head will recapture its soul, and our hearts.

EDGES: A SONG CYCLE at the Phoenix Arts Club

★★★★

“Each number is a standalone gem”

“The sole accompaniment is piano, but we can hear the potential of full arrangements in our heads thanks to musical director’s Ben Ward’s fluency and eclecticism”

EDGES: A SONG CYCLE at the Phoenix Arts Club

Reviewed on 21st January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

More shows recently reviewed:

Edges

Edges

EXHIBITIONISTS at the King’s Head Theatre

★★

“For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype”

“The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped”

EXHIBITIONISTS at the King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed on 8th January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Geraint Lewis

Previously reviewed at this venue:

EXHIBITIONISTS

EXHIBITIONISTS