★★★½

“a slick, stylish, and refreshing take on a Renaissance play”

Tinny Italian pop music, a mini-fridge full of champagne, and, in the centre of the stage, a long wooden boardroom table surrounded by high-backed chairs. ‘The Changeling’, Middleton and Rowley’s 17th-century play, adapted and directed by Ricky Dukes, takes place entirely in this boardroom (designed by Sorcha Corcoran), with the cast in mid-century dress (excellently created by Alice Neale). The play follows Beatrice-Joanna (Colette O’Rourke), who, betrothed to a man she does not love, seeks to murder her fiancée. When Beatrice enlists the help of her servant De Flores (Jamie O’Neill), who is as obsessed with her as she is disgusted by him, both are drawn into a complex current of desire and murder.

Originally featuring a parallel plot set in a madhouse, this production bravely subsumes the comedic subplot into the tragic main plot but retains a semblance of the madhouse setting for the second act. While it scraps their storyline, the production also retains the madhouse inmates, here recast as The Patients, the house band who interrupt the tragic proceedings to croon wedding-singer style, bounce mega-balloons around the audience, and bathe the stage in disco lighting.

The production is a slick, stylish, and refreshing take on a Renaissance play. The staging is often particularly impressive, and manages to do a lot with very little, thanks in large part to Stuart Glover’s stunning and, at times, very complex lighting design. Even though the boardroom table never moves, we get everything from catacombs to fire. One particularly impressive scene sees De Flores and Alonzo (Alex Bird) descending into the castle vaults, lit cleverly by headlamps worn by the rest of the cast to create the illusion of tunnels.

The influence of Daniel Fish’s dark staging of ‘Oklahoma!’ is evident, with Jamie O’Neill, who is excellent, bringing a wounded and vulnerable desperation to De Flores’ sinister perversity, which very nearly gleans our sympathy. Refusing to cast De Flores as purely revolting and imagining him instead as someone who Beatrice might mutually desire works very well.

“stylish and unflaggingly entertaining”

It would be possible for the cast to lean even further into this fruitful dynamic, were they given a more intimate space. Instead, the interruptions of The Madhouse, though occasionally well-placed, are frequently distracting. All eleven cast members are on-stage almost constantly, navigating around the boardroom table which, while stylish looking, never feels necessary and is instead mostly a hindrance. Taking up almost all available space, it means that most scenes take place with actors entirely separated by a large piece of wood. This dampens some of the sinister sensuality and is a shame in a play that is essentially about desiring bodies.

The best parts of this play come, instead, when the production leans into sparser staging, and leverages the uncanniness of the space. One moment, where De Flores and Beatrice kneel together on the table in the centre of the chaos created, is particularly powerful.

Frequently, however, the play expends too much energy in the wrong places, and, as it reaches its tragic climax, becomes almost claustrophobic. By the end, the audience must contend not only with the table, but also with eleven cast members, fake blood, confetti, and two types of balloon.

Paradoxically, less to do would give the excellent cast more to work with. However, despite the lack of breathing room, this is a stylish and unflaggingly entertaining production. The ‘excessive’ aspects also undoubtedly most engage the audience, and Lazarus is, after all, a company designed to do exactly this.

AN EVENING OF BURLESQUE at the Adelphi Theatre

★★★★

“The flame haired Ivy Paige hosts, with an assured and well-worn flamboyance”

When ‘Burlesque’ was imported from the United States in the mid nineteenth century it was designed for an exclusively male audience, with its bawdy content and exposed flesh. Raids by the police, prompted by offended citizens, were not uncommon. By the 1940s it had lost popularity, but over the last twenty or so years it has come back with a bang. At the forefront of this resurgence is the seemingly never-ending tour of “An Evening of Burlesque”, which stopped off in London’s West End for one night only.

Burlesque’s audience has widened beyond recognition as the art form has slipped into the mainstream, shedding much of its risqué reputation as swiftly as a sequined corset. Still a far cry from becoming family entertainment, its move into thousand-plus seater venues is bound to soften its edges. Luckily, many of the company members of “An Evening of Burlesque” have large enough personalities to bridge the distance between performer and audience as they dish up their blend of cabaret, comedy, music, vaudeville; and the occasional misbehaving tassel.

The flame haired Ivy Paige hosts, with an assured and well-worn flamboyance. When she dips into chanteuse mode, her rich vocals offer some of the highlights of the evening, but she never wants to steal the show, preferring to sashay aside and let her guests do the entertaining. First up is femme fatale Belle de Beauvoir, dependably personifying the genre – it was only after interval that her Belle Epoque sassiness was truly exposed. Similarly, the powerhouse that is Velvet Jones was struggling to stand out from the crowd, even if her costume could probably be picked up by satellite. So far the evening is being painted by numbers, a feeling that even Isabella Bliss – in her Marilyn Monroe guise – does little to dispel.

“As the variety creeps in our misgivings seep out, leaving space for us to sit back and have fun”

But as the show shapeshifts to fill the venue, finally reaching out onto the far corners, the magic is eventually conjured. Sebastian Angelique commands the stage in a blaze. A true ‘showboy’, he plays with fire. Literally so. He eats it too, by the way. He incorporates into his act a thrilling affirmation that Burlesque is no longer the preserve of the fairer sex. By now the audience is ignited, which Saucy Davis Jr. doesn’t dampen with his velvet jacket and velvet voice and incredible tap-dancing feet – capturing the styles of Fred and Ginger, Sammy Davis Jr, Gene Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers in the space of a minute. We want more but he has other assets he wants to show us too.

Isabella Bliss returns to the stage, sans Monroe personage. Bigged up big time by Paige, expectations are ever so slightly beyond her reach, until her finale which is pure, parodic pastiche. Over-the-top and gorgeous. Exactly what we want. Meanwhile, though, if we can rewind a bit, guest star Christian Lee – Britain’s Got Talent finalist – closes the first act with his unique blend of magic, illusion and laugh-out-loud comedy. And, of course, audience participation, which is par for the course. Beware if you find yourself in the front few rows. The warning extends to the performers too. In particular Matt Pang who probably wishes he had brought somebody else up on stage to help him with his gravity defying escapology act. A brilliant performance, perhaps enhanced by the ad-lib comedy Pang brought forth from the near disaster.

Interweaving the acts are the L’Sheila Showgirls who transport us back to the heady days of Variety. “An Evening of Burlesque” is a show that reminds us that Burlesque isn’t just about striptease. In fact, the standout moments are indeed those where clothes are kept on. The evening begins with the worry that all we’ll see are similar ways in which a glove or a stocking can be removed. But that’s just a tease. As the variety creeps in our misgivings seep out, leaving space for us to sit back and have fun. Which is what it is all about. A real crowd-pleaser: classy and sassy.

THE CHANGELING at Southwark Playhouse

★★★½

“a slick, stylish, and refreshing take on a Renaissance play”

“stylish and unflaggingly entertaining”

THE CHANGELING at Southwark Playhouse

Reviewed on 10th October 2023

by Anna Studsgarth

Photography by Charles Flint

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse:

The Changeling

The Changeling

AN EVENING OF BURLESQUE at the Adelphi Theatre

★★★★

“The flame haired Ivy Paige hosts, with an assured and well-worn flamboyance”

“As the variety creeps in our misgivings seep out, leaving space for us to sit back and have fun”

AN EVENING OF BURLESQUE at the Adelphi Theatre

Reviewed on 9th October 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Martin Reynolds

For future tour dates, click on the image below

Previously reviewed at this venue:

An Evening of Burlesque

An Evening of Burlesque