★★

“Every emotion and incident in this piece is recognisable”

(God Save my) Northern Soul is a single hander, billed as a dark comedy about love, loss and Northern Soul music. The humour rests on an undercooked teenager who suddenly loses her Mum and has to confront the complex world of adulthood. This a very relatable play, with lovely key moments, but as a whole is, like the teenager, rather undercooked.

Natasha Cottriall has written and performs this piece. She has great potential. Her character, Nicole, is the narrator and the prime character, a 19-year-old who is unprepared for the consequences of maternal death. At moments Natasha/Nicole also has to ‘be’ the characters that she interacts with, most frequently, a prudish and opinionated grandma; a boozy but supportive friend; and the priest who will conduct the burial. Cottriall handles the transitions well, introduces echoes and repeats to hold the piece together and is a lively presence on the stage, even if her overall performance has some weak spots.

It is not explicitly stated that this is an autobiographical storyline but it could easily be. It is well written – the straight talk, the moments of inappropriate humour, the northern setting, the casual racism that Nicole encounters, her naivety and acute vulnerability. Every emotion and incident in this piece is recognisable and wrings the heartstrings of the audience, as well as laughs.

But, altogether it is a bit loose, meaning that the humour is undeveloped and resolution does not really come about. Director Hannah Tyrell-Pinder and her team have worked sympathetically with the material but the staging choices might have helped the play tighten up, instead of leaving some of it rambling. The Northern Soul music of the title is nicely used as a ‘character’ and also part of the sound design (Chris James) – but we didn’t really get enough of it to understand its significance. The ‘boxes’ set works hard (Alex Marker, designer), but some of it does not seem to add to the action. The close of the play fumbles and seems strangely ill-timed.

I felt I would like to see this piece re-worked. What it conveys is important for us to know: the abrupt transition that death brings about in any child, even older ones. We are never prepared. Parental death calls into recognition all sorts of other influences in our lives, often hidden until that moment. I also want to know ‘what happens next to Nicole?’. She has shown herself to be a real and loveable person who has just started on her journey. Maybe this is a trilogy in waiting.

BRIGADOON

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

★★★★

“The music and dance are the highlights, stylishly adding extra layers of the story onto the dialogue”

Lerner and Loewe’s “Brigadoon” hasn’t been performed in London for over thirty-five years, and the word, from some quarters, seems to be that there must be a reason for this. In short, though, Drew McOnie’s magical interpretation at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is a strong counterargument as to why it is definitely high time for a revival. Adapted and (kind of) updated by Rona Munro it almost makes sense of its impossibly whimsical narrative but, and goes along with it, creating an enchanting mix of music, dance and drama. We are swept up into the fantasy of it all, which in itself is quite a feat. It is the sort of plot that, if closely analysed, the holes picked in it would cause it to collapse completely.

The echoing sound of a big drum kicks off the evening, followed by haunting bagpipes. Basia Bińkowska’s multi-levelled, lush and heather-wrapped set merges into the park’s natural background. Two American fighter pilots appear over the brow of the hill. The romantically inclined Tommy (Louis Gaunt) is wounded while the more down-to-earth Jeff (Cavan Clarke) is rather unsuccessfully trying to get their bearings. They have literally dropped out of the sky and according to their map they appear to be nowhere. From this ‘nowhere’, however, the village of Brigadoon appears out of… well… nowhere. We have no alternate but to suspend our disbelief – the effect is quite intoxicating as we are surrounded by the glorious harmonies of the villagers. McOnie’s choreography is beautifully balletic, yet it somehow belongs to the world of Scottish reels and bagpipes too.

Brigadoon only exists for one day every one hundred years, thanks to a divine spell cast by the local minister two hundred years previously to protect it from the outside world. The townsfolk are forbidden to leave, otherwise the village would disappear forever. An outsider can only stay if they fall in love with a local, so strongly enough that they are prepared to give up everything for their love; ‘…after all, laddie, if ye love someone deeply, anythin’ is possible!’. The pilots spend pretty much all of act one unaware of this phenomenon, but when they discover it, have quite different reactions. This is very much a fairy tale, but also a love story burning away at its heart, with enough shades of darkness to prevent it from being too honey dewed.

The music and dance are the highlights, stylishly adding extra layers of the story onto the dialogue. Occasionally the movement is extraneous but always spectacular, held together by musical director Laura Bangay’s twelve-piece orchestra that mixes the traditional with the contemporary. The ensemble is just as vital as the lead players who generously never pull focus from the energy that floods the stage. Gaunt’s performance is quite believable (even if his story isn’t) in his depiction of an unwavering belief in love, that is also prone to moments of self-doubt, while Clarke’s pragmatic Jeff challenges but also accommodates his co-pilots idiosyncrasies, culminating in a deeply moving finale. The excellent Georgina Onuorah gives intensity and grace to Tommy’s love interest Fiona, while Nic Myers’ flirty Meg teases with, and confuses, Jeff with uncertain sex appeal. Jasmine Jules Andrews and Gilli Jones, as the newlyweds Jean and Charlie, are an enchanting couple. Danny Nattrass, as the tragic, lovesick Harry, matches an agile personality with a true talent for dance. Like the entire cast, the movement clearly defines the emotions and intentions of the characters.

All set against Jessica Hung Han Yun’s mystically atmospheric lighting, the evening is a delight throughout. The sumptuous score is at once familiar, yet fresh, with favourites such as ‘Almost Like Being in Love’, ‘The Love of My Life’ and ‘There but for You Go I’ sealing the message. It is a glorious tribute to the power of love. Like the unwitting co-pilots who wander into Brigadoon, we cannot fail to be moved and entertained by this production. It is unashamed escapism, but once we’re hooked, we don’t want to escape it.

(GOD SAVE MY) NORTHERN SOUL

Park Theatre

★★

“Every emotion and incident in this piece is recognisable”

(GOD SAVE MY) NORTHERN SOUL

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 12th September 2025

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

(GOD SAVE MY) NORTHERN SOUL

(GOD SAVE MY) NORTHERN SOUL

(GOD SAVE MY) NORTHERN SOUL

BRIGADOON

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

★★★★

“The music and dance are the highlights, stylishly adding extra layers of the story onto the dialogue”

BRIGADOON

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Reviewed on 12th August 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

BRIGADOON

BRIGADOON

BRIGADOON</h3

JOIN US