Tag Archives: Michael Longhurst

NEXT TO NORMAL

★★★★★

Wyndham’s Theatre

NEXT TO NORMAL at Wyndham’s Theatre

★★★★★

“as close to extraordinary as is physically possible”

Many years ago, as a young father, I often interrupted my children’s playtime by asking what they were doing. They never thought it an intrusion – always happy to answer. One particular day, in response to the question my daughter responded with “I’m trying to be normal”. Five minutes later she had completely forgotten the conversation (possibly the ice cream van, or the urgent matter of shouting at her little brother took precedence), but it lingered with me for some time. I think I had answered in my usual flippant way with something like “join the club” or “aren’t we all?”. I never thought of bursting into song. Decades later the perfect answer is delivered to me from the West End stage.

“I don’t need a life that’s normal
That’s way too far away
But something next to normal
Would be okay
Yes, something next to normal
That’s the thing I’d like to try
Close enough to normal to get by”

When Eleanor Worthington-Cox delivers the lines towards the end of the second act in Tom Kitt’s (Music) and Brian Yorkey’s (book and lyrics) astonishing musical, there’s not a dry eye in the house, yet there’s also a collective feeling of elation that ripples through the auditorium. “Next to Normal” obviously addresses the subject of mental health but it never feels that way. The message (if there is one) or the answer (there isn’t one) runs subliminally beneath a musical that soars to the heights.

Worthington-Cox is Natalie, the daughter to Diana (Caissie Levy) who grapples with her bipolar disorder. In principle it is Diana’s story. A heart-wrenching one. In reality it is everyone’s story. Levy is simply stunning in the lead role, capturing with undiluted precision and sympathy all the highs and lows of her roller-coaster condition, guiding us through the funny moments to the achingly sad and tragic. Levy is surrounded by five other lead players, for this is an ensemble piece. Husband Dan (the magnificent Jamie Parker) battles to understand, often picking up the pieces and trying to get through another day. Initially it all seems normal. The angst-ridden daughter and the waif-like son, Gabe (Jack Wolfe), getting ready for school. But how quickly it all unravels – until the bombshell arrives quite early on. It won’t be long before the whole capital knows the twist, but until then I’m keeping mum.

The medical profession is not so much made fun of, but scrutinised with comic genius by the writers. Trevor Dion Nicholas plays two different doctors – the aptly named Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine – lightening the mood with darkness each time he arrives on stage, littering the space with pill boxes, black humour, dubious cures or just the aura of a Rock God. Another subplot is supplied by the blossoming relationship between Natalie and school chum Henry (Jack Ofrecio) which mirrors the elder couple’s in a frighteningly authentic, cyclical way. Jack Wolfe, of course, is sublimely shadowy as Gabe. Whilst his character is fighting to be seen and not forgotten, there is no denying that the beauty of his voice can be heard near and far and the tones will be remembered for a long time.

The musical will linger in the memory for even longer. The score is magical. One moment light and catchy, another aching and haunting. The manic ‘It’s Gonna be Good’ sits comfortably alongside Levy’s aching rendition of the soaring ‘I Miss the Mountains’. Vulnerability and despair, heartache and longing, love and guilt have all never been served better in song. Interspersed between the numbers are some brilliantly succinct one-liners that sum up decades of medical hypothesis. The fact that they are dressed in cloaks of humour add poignancy to the already impassioned performances. ‘Most people who think they are happy haven’t thought about it enough’

Nobody has to think hard at all to realise that “Next to Normal” is as close to extraordinary as is physically possible. ‘There will be light’, we are told in the uplifting closing number. But it is far from a cloying sentiment, as a tangible question mark still hangs in the air. And for the moment, the light is refracted through tears – of sadness and of joy. Heart-breaking, heart-warming and life-affirming, this musical is more than a must see.


NEXT TO NORMAL at Wyndham’s Theatre

Reviewed on 26th June 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

KING LEAR | ★★★★ | October 2023
OKLAHOMA! | ★★★★ | February 2023
LIFE OF PI | ★★★★★ | November 2021

NEXT TO NORMAL

NEXT TO NORMAL

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

THE HUMAN BODY

★★★

Donmar Warehouse

THE HUMAN BODY at the Donmar Warehouse

★★★

“this is a play that promises much and fails, ultimately, to deliver”

Lucy Kirkwood’s new play The Human Body is a complex creation, not unlike the human body itself. Michael Longhurst and Ann Yee’s stylish direction makes many pretty pictures of the bodies on stage from this overly length piece. They have assembled a talented cast, lead by Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport. Cinematic touches, created by onstage videographers, and clever screening of the images, give a touch of glamour to the proceedings. But the overall effect is to remind us that we are not in the cinema, watching a sharp edged black and white movie, but in a theatre, watching a play that is just out of focus.

Set in 1946, the same year that Parliament passed the National Health Service Act, The Human Body is a timely reminder of what an enormous difference free health care made to Second World War exhausted Britain. GP Iris Elcock, (Keeley Hawes) and her disabled war veteran husband Julian (Tom Goodman-Hill) are attempting to rebuild their marriage in much the same way that the rest of the country is attempting to rebuild. Which is to say—they are outwardly supportive of each other as Iris juggles her household responsibilities with her medical practice, and her political ambitions. Presented as an outwardly successful, New Look woman, It’s in the interior spaces of home, her GP practice, and later, a railway carriage, that all Iris’ juggling comes off the rails.

Echoes of the British movie Brief Encounter allows playwright Kirkwood an attempt at some of the glamour and powerful, yet repressed emotions captured so well in director David Lean’s classic. But The Human Body is less about the passionate affair Iris has with actor George as a result of a chance encounter in a railway carriage. It’s more about her boundless ambition to be in Parliament. Kirkwood’s play isn’t even about the passing of the National Health Act, despite the occasional reference to Aneurin Bevan, who spearheaded the passing of the Act. The Human Body is ultimately about Iris—seen from every angle, thanks to the presence of those videographers on stage. We see Iris attempt the impossible. To be a wife, mother, successful career woman, politician, and lover to George. When we see Iris fail to manage all these roles, even her assistance in supporting the passage of the National Health Act, isn’t quite enough to salvage The Human Body. No amount of brilliant acting, stylish direction, and onstage videographic wizardry can overcome a script that fails to give an audience some sense of catharsis.

 

 

Yet Keeley Hawes manages to keep Iris a fully rounded character despite the shortcomings of the script. She is ably supported by fellow actors Jack Davenport and Tom Goodman-Hill. Jack Davenport’s portrayal of George is particularly noteworthy. He manages to reveal George the man with a complex family life, lurking beneath the film actor’s polished charm. Tom Goodman-Hill has the thankless task of portraying Julian, Iris’ resentful husband, but succeeds in making Julian sympathetic nonetheless. He, along with Pearl Mackie and Siobhán Redmond take on a host of other roles as well. Together these seasoned actors bring energy and a sense of ever-changing drama to The Human Body.

Nevertheless, The Human Body cannot decide whether it is a play, or a film. Kirkwood writes the script as though it were a screenplay, but bringing on bits of furniture, endless props, often held by stagehands while the actors use them, simply serve to remind the audience that film can manage all these complicated changes of location simply by saying “Cut!” and moving on. If one tries to change the location in the theatre on stage, it merely looks clunky. In Iris and George’s passionate encounters, the camera is an intrusive third party, no matter how beautiful the images captured on the screen above the actors. What’s happening on stage is a messy distraction, and even good lighting and snatches of Rachmaninov’s lovely music cannot help the actors establish the same intimacy when there’s a camera in the way. There is a profound difference in the ways that theatre achieves its magic on stage, and film on the screen, and The Human Body is a very good lesson in why that is.

It says much for the skills of the actors that the playing time of The Human Body passes as quickly as it does. Fans of Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport will not be disappointed. But this is a play that promises much and fails, ultimately, to deliver.

 


THE HUMAN BODY at the Donmar Warehouse

Reviewed on 28th February 2024

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE | ★★★★ | October 2021

 

THE HUMAN BODY

THE HUMAN BODY<

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page