Lidia Crisafulli Archives - Page 14 of 15

Bad Girls the Musical

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed – 27th February 2019

★★★

“Rebecca Eastham, making her directorial debut, succeeds in bringing together an exceptionally talented cast and crew”

Britain is known for many cultural accomplishments, its contributions in theatre arguably taking centre stage. However, in my opinion, Britain does not do musicals. At least, we don’t do them well. Besides Andrew Lloyd Webber’s cloying melodramas (and ‘Billy Elliot’- that was quite good) our West End musical contributions have been meagre. So, the idea of transforming a “hard-hitting” British prison drama into a “hard-hitting” British prison musical – an already tricky concept – seems an unlikely formula for theatrical brilliance – a previous West End outing lasted little more than a couple of months. Nonetheless, ‘Bad Girls: The Musical’ comes to Upstairs at the Gatehouse to try its luck.

The premise does what it says on the tin. There is of course a lot of precedent for prison shows, and ‘Bad Girls: The Musical’ doesn’t waste any time defying expectations. You’ve got all the usual tropes – a couple of corrupt guards, a young up-and-comer trying to make things better, and a tired warden who’d prefer to turn a blind eye. The inmates are similarly predictable – vulnerable newcomer who can’t hack it, idiot bullies looking to take your lunch money, and so on.

The production itself is well done. Rebecca Eastham, making her directorial debut, succeeds in bringing together an exceptionally talented cast and crew. Considering the limitations on prison decor (grey on grey), Andrew Exeter’s set design does well to create something interesting. Fly-posters with ‘#MeToo’ and ‘I’m With Her’ slogans hang just outside the prison gates – a nice solution to the fact that the play’s themes are about a decade behind the current political conversation. The outside world’s progress makes no odds to the goings-on inside prison, is what I imagine these posters are supposed to suggest. Prison cell panels on wheels create varying spaces and divisions on stage. They also allow the inmates to remain on stage at all times, cleverly creating a row of cells behind whatever scene is taking place.

The talent on stage is quite spectacular. A four-piece band (directed by Ben David Papworth) works very hard to provide the entire soundtrack. Nicole Faraday (playing Shell Dockley), who featured in the original ‘Bad Girls’ TV drama, has a beautiful, honeyed voice as well as great comic physicality. In fact, nearly the whole cast showcases amazing vocal ability, and there are quite a few moments where sitting in such a small auditorium with so many talented singers feels very exclusive.

There are a lot of power ballads which, I suppose, lend a nice opportunity for the vocals to shine – one can easily imagine a heart-felt ‘Bad Girls’ number being belted out on X-Factor semi-finals. But it’s a bit weird to have so many moments of attempted earnestness beside songs like “All Banged Up Without The Bang” (“This little chassis needs a full front prang”). What’s more it’s these songs and scenes, jam-packed with sexual innuendo and comedy, that are genuinely entertaining, and if only the writers (Maureen Chadwick, Ann McManus and Kath Gotts) had done away with their bid to be “hard-hitting”, they might have written a very successful musical comedy.

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

Bad Girls the Musical

Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 3rd March

Previously reviewed at this venue:

A Night at The Oscars | ★★★★ | February 2018

After the Ball | ★★★ | March 2018

Return to the Forbidden Planet | ★★★ | May 2018

Kafka’s Dick | ★★★★ | June 2018

Nice Work if You Can Get It | ★★★★ | December 2018

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

The Dip

The Space

Reviewed – 1st February 2019

★★★

“It’s hard to resist the fun clearly being had here, but there is perhaps a risk of too much fun at the expense of structure and ultimately purpose”

Looking for a quiet night? This raucous performance from an ensemble of impossibly young talents won’t be what you might have in mind – but the psychedelic charms of The Dip are near irresistible.

The narrative, such as it is, is a trippy look at a night of sexual awakening. But plot is secondary here. The music is standout, with cast members seamlessly instrument-swapping (and, on the night I visited, Sophie Hammer on bass keeping a cool head when the sound tech wouldn’t play ball).

The sweetly amusing ‘kiss’ character at the start (Iulia Isar, who is consistently strong) is an indication of the playful surrealism that lies ahead. The night brings us a life-sized fish, aubergine-brandishing police and not one but two naked behinds. But anarchic comedy works best when we’re given shades of light and dark, and moments without frenzied physicality or high volume. These are pretty hard to come by here; not for nothing are we given earplugs at the start in case, we’re cheerfully told (by a staff member at this wonderfully welcoming venue), ‘we want to protect our hearing’. It’s hard to resist the fun clearly being had here, but there is perhaps a risk of too much fun at the expense of structure and ultimately purpose.

If the night is intended as a look at the complexities of figuring out sexuality and love, the tendency towards too much anarchy erodes the chance for (and fleeting moments of) real sincerity. But this is not to diminish the acting. Max Young does a great job as Nick, offering badly needed moments of levity, and Eifion Ap Cadno – on stage almost nonstop – is an effective protagonist and guide through the confusing parallel words (although it must be said: the on-stage kisses between our male leads lack chemistry. Buckle in, guys!). The cast in general are likeable, each with flashes of real warmth and humour.

Occasional forays into the realm of the totally absurd, such as an awkward stage dresser strewing bunting with a narrative of bizarre sound effects, feel like time lost that could have supported onward momentum. The risk of these detours is appearing self-indulgent; it’s easy to imagine how they must be side-splitting in the rehearsal room, but tough decisions need to be made about what can be justified in a final cut and some emotional integrity prioritised.

And some jokes naturally work better than others – the flatfish character is confused and a little overplayed, with some of the detail of his ‘backstory’ (as much as a giant fish can have one) being obscured with some missed diction (although Nick Mauldin is commendably entertaining throughout). One joke about the incestuous and downright abusive nature of the curious village our hero is stranded in is certainly a misfire, now more than ever, and has no place here.

Despite these occasional distractions, the rollercoaster seventy minute show sweeps the audience along with it and leaves us brushing party confetti from our shoulders. Infectious music and laugh out loud moments? To borrow a phrase from The Dip: baba ganoush!

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed – 27th February 2019

★★★

“Rebecca Eastham, making her directorial debut, succeeds in bringing together an exceptionally talented cast and crew”

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

Bad Girls the Musical

Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 3rd March

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Space

Reviewed – 1st February 2019

★★★

“It’s hard to resist the fun clearly being had here, but there is perhaps a risk of too much fun at the expense of structure and ultimately purpose”

Looking for a quiet night? This raucous performance from an ensemble of impossibly young talents won’t be what you might have in mind – but the psychedelic charms of The Dip are near irresistible.

The narrative, such as it is, is a trippy look at a night of sexual awakening. But plot is secondary here. The music is standout, with cast members seamlessly instrument-swapping (and, on the night I visited, Sophie Hammer on bass keeping a cool head when the sound tech wouldn’t play ball).

Despite these occasional distractions, the rollercoaster seventy minute show sweeps the audience along with it and leaves us brushing party confetti from our shoulders. Infectious music and laugh out loud moments? To borrow a phrase from The Dip: baba ganoush!

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

The Dip

The Space until 2nd February

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: