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MARIE AND ROSETTA

★★★★★

UK Tour

MARIE AND ROSETTA

Rose Theatre

★★★★★

“soul-stirring, celebratory and foot-tappingly uplifting”

It is sometimes extraordinary how a figure can fade into the back pages of history. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a huge star in the 1930s and 40s, who struck a chord with a white electric guitar slung around her neck, that helped change the face of modern popular music. Yet somehow the gospel superstar ended up forgotten within her lifetime. George Brant’s impressive yet intimate portrayal will surely redress that injustice. Avoiding the epic, Brant focuses on a particular part of her life – her partnership with Gospel and R&B singer Marie Knight – and celebrates the legacy in a glorious play with music. It is a remarkable achievement in that, by pinpointing a moment in time, he still manages to give a concise and precise insight into the culture, history and background that shaped the characters. And then, of course, there is the music!

Set in a funeral parlour, a coffin laid out beneath a large wooden crucifix upstage, we are in Mississippi in 1946. “There’s rules” explains ‘Sister’ Rosetta (Beverley Knight) as she prepares her protégé and singing partner Marie Knight (Ntombizodwa Ndlovu) for their tour of the segregated Southern States (the unusual setting was the only venue that allowed the pair to rehearse). It starts out as a kind of audition for Marie, but her vocal style rapidly wins over the already established Rosetta. What ensues is the rehearsal which this show encompasses. The musical numbers slot beautifully and organically into the dialogue, sometimes stopping and starting again. The show is a conversation, a confession; a heart-to-heart that slickly builds up in momentum and passion. Like a musical ‘soul stew’ – a device coined by the late bandleader King Curtis in which a song will introduce one instrument at a time over a cycle of twelve bars until the full force bubbles into waves of musical bliss. Writer George Brant has followed a similar recipe, introducing rich details and pinches of backstory at crucial points into the dialogue. Knight and Ndlovu give faultless performances with their easy onstage rapport. When they launch into song, however, the production soars – whether the whole band accompanies, or if it is just the bluesy riffs of Liam Godwin’s piano or musical director Shirley Tetteh on guitar.

Rosetta Tharpe was renowned for her guitar playing. Decades ahead of her time she became known as the ‘Godmother of Rock and Roll’ whose influence touched countless stars including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Little Richard. Marie was a formidable piano player as well as a singer. Neither Knight nor Ndlovu play the instruments, but director Monique Touko gets around this with clever stage craft. Ndlovu doesn’t mime but uses her whole body to evoke the inbuilt rhythm and soul of a pianist, while Knight opens a guitar case to let the notes fly out into the air. Through the staging, we get a full sense of the real-life character’s influence as she changed the face of music back in the forties, leading gospel into the world of rhythm and blues and soul. Shunned by the straitlaced church for performing in nightclubs, she persuades the ingénue Marie to follow suit. Her mission was to “put a bit of club into the church, and some church into the club” as she swung between chapel in the morning and New York’s Cotton Club at night.

The writing avoids preaching. The natural dialogue touches on personal tragedy and adversity but is steeped in humour too. Rosetta’s chipping away at Marie’s saintly exterior offers moments of biting comedy as she shapes the latter’s high church voice into the smoky jazz vibe needed for their subversive success. The song list is plucked from Rosetta’s impressive repertoire, and the combination of Knight’s and Ndlovu’s voices is gold dust that rises to the rafters. ‘This Train’, the rocking ‘Rock Me’, ‘Sit Down’, ‘I Want a Tall Skinny Papa’, ‘Strange Things are Happening Everyday’ are highlights among highlights, the glory of which is shared by the two singers. There is no competition (as in the reality), but it is a union borne of generosity and joy – and this love of the music is all too clear in the harmonies.

The poignancy of the setting (designer Lily Arnold’s shrine like funeral parlour) is emphasised in the twilight moments of the show. We slip forward in time in an ingeniously surreal twist in the narrative that derails our cosy expectations and plunges us into a moving epilogue, the emotion matched by haunting a Capella vocals. “Marie and Rosetta” is soul-stirring, celebratory and foot-tappingly uplifting. When asked about her music and its influence, Rosetta Tharpe is reported to have replied “Oh, these kids and rock and roll – this is just sped up rhythm and blues. I’ve been doing that forever”. I’m sure this show will enjoy the same longevity.



MARIE AND ROSETTA

Rose Theatre

Reviewed on 9th May 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 


 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ANIMAL FARM | ★★★ | February 2025
NEVER LET ME GO | ★★★ | September 2024
SHOOTING HEDDA GABLER | ★★★★ | October 2023

 

 

MARIE AND ROSETTA

MARIE AND ROSETTA

MARIE AND ROSETTA

TAMBO & BONES

★★★

UK Tour

TAMBO & BONES

Royal & Derngate Theatre

★★★

“The energy expended by Samuel and Ward is exhilarating”

The Actors Touring Company revives its production of Dave Harris’s thought-provoking play from Stratford East two years ago with newcomer Clifford Samuel stepping into the role of Tambo alongside Daniel Ward’s original Bones. It’s a strange piece, certainly, with the opening scene revelling in its Beckettian absurdity. Tambo (top hat and tails) and Bones (waist coat and bowler) are minstrels in a fake world of painted scenery and cut-out trees (Set and Costume Designers – Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ).

As the pair’s antics verge closely on clowning, the chemistry between the two actors is immediately evident. But there’s an edge in the comedy which splits this audience; some laughter from the stalls suggests it’s the funniest thing ever, whilst others are hearing the darker overtones. The pair discuss how they can escape their situation; Bones wants to perform cheap tricks for our money, whilst Tambo would like us to understand the history of the black person’s experience.

Moving forward, the pair are now hip-hop stars and the second scene is an extended live performance. The two men bid to out rap each other whilst a DJ at the back mixes the beats. Is it the director himself, Matthew Xia, in his persona of Excalibah behind the mask? Stage smoke and powerful lighting (Ciarán Cunningham) provide the stadium performance atmosphere. The energy expended by Samuel and Ward is exhilarating but for the predominantly white middle-aged audience, it’s also rather bemusing. If there is something to be learnt through the poetry, then we don’t get it.

The futuristic third scene with its Orwellian overtones shakes things up again. The stage is stripped bare and, in a brave piece of writing and direction, our two heroes passively narrate the story of the history of the new world whilst two white robots mime the action. Jaron Lammens and Dru Cripps as X-Bot-1 and X-Bot-2 provide the performance of the night. There’s surely never been a better choreographed and performed scene of robotic movement than this. Disappointingly, a final piece of action important to the ultimate meaning of the play and that should be devastating in its effect misses its punch.

Dave Harris’s play won’t be to everyone’s taste, with the long central hip-hop performance particularly divisive. But there is no questioning the commitment, versatility and brilliance of the performers.



TAMBO & BONES

Royal & Derngate Theatre then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 11th March 2025

by Phillip Money

Photography by Jane Hobson

 

 


 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MOBY DICK | ★★★★★ | April 2024
THE FROGS | ★★½ | January 2024
2:22 A GHOST STORY | ★★★ | January 2024
THE MIRROR CRACK’D | ★★★ | October 2022
THE TWO POPES | ★★★★ | October 2022
PLAYTIME | ★★★★ | September 2022
THE WELLSPRING | ★★★ | March 2022
BLUE / ORANGE | ★★★★ | November 2021
GIN CRAZE | ★★★★ | July 2021
ANIMAL FARM | ★★★★ | May 2021

TAMBO & BONES

TAMBO & BONES

TAMBO & BONES