Tag Archives: Neil Bartram

THE STORY OF MY LIFE

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Stage Door Theatre

THE STORY OF MY LIFE at the Stage Door Theatre

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Hillโ€™s dialogue and Bartramโ€™s lyrics are full of eccentric humour, observations and paradoxes”

โ€œThe Story of My Lifeโ€ wears its influences unashamedly on its sleeve, but at the same time has some gorgeous little tricks up those same sleeves. The opening number, โ€˜Write What You Knowโ€™, has more than a nod towards Stephen Sondheim, yet as the song list unfolds, Neil Bartramโ€™s own individuality as a composer shines through. The musical numbers are the perfect accompaniment to Brian Hillโ€™s book, that is intelligently and wittily crafted into an emotional tribute to friendship. The musicalโ€™s spirit is lifted straight from Frank Capraโ€™s โ€˜Itโ€™s a Wonderful Lifeโ€™, and it soars just as high. Truly, itโ€™s a wonderful show.

Alvin (Tim Edwards) and Thomas (Markus Sodergren) are childhood friends. They became best friends in first grade, bonding over their respective Halloween costumes โ€“ Thomas as the Angel Clarence from Capraโ€™s film and Alvin as the ghost of his mum. An indeterminate number of years later, Thomas โ€“ now a bestselling author – is trying unsuccessfully to write the eulogy for Alvinโ€™s funeral. The ghost of Alvin appears, more of a distraction than a helping hand, but between them they pull books from the shelves behind them, picking out stories from their past and moulding them into the songs that beautifully evoke their friendship, and the forces that drew them together, then apart, and eventually together again posthumously.

Alvin is a bubble of energy, fascinated by the infinite quirks of the universe while remaining trapped within his own small world. Edwards brilliantly captures Alvinโ€™s sheer ingenuous joy of life, that beats like a fragile wing unable to withstand the winds of fear and insecurity that push him over the edge. His is a complicated mix of neediness and loyalty that Edwards makes irresistibly endearing. Sodergrenโ€™s Thomas is more calculated but no less complicated. Breaking bonds and breaking away, his success as a writer throws him into denial. Not just for his true feelings, but also the fact that his literary triumphs are, in fact, literally stolen from his friendโ€™s imagination. Sodergren perceptively chips away at his hard mantle, eventually acknowledging the debt he owes. Whether it is too late or not doesnโ€™t matter; he melts our hearts anyway.

In fact, they both do. We laugh and we cry with them. Hillโ€™s dialogue and Bartramโ€™s lyrics are full of eccentric humour, observations and paradoxes. Occasionally verging on platitude, they are pulled back by the performances. Each song is seamlessly crafted into the text, drawing us in with a smile or a tear as we are swept from the underscore into the waves of emotion of each melody. Sometimes the line between leitmotif and repetition is blurred, but there are some stand out moments. โ€˜This Is Itโ€™ echoes the multiple meanings of the title phrase; its harmonies bringing the couple together. A rich counterpoint to โ€˜Saying Goodbyeโ€™ – parts one to four seen through different eyes. โ€˜The Butterflyโ€™ is another stand-alone moment, quiet but strong and magnificently delivered. โ€˜1876โ€™ adopts a lilting folksiness that conjures a young Tom Waits. Minus the gravelly voice, of course. Both Edwards and Sodergren have the vocal purity that can carry the emotive weight of the songs. Musical Director, Aaron Clingham, skilfully and sensitively guides them through the repertoire. They are often tricky numbers, but Clinghamโ€™s effortless piano – accompanied by Pippa Mason on cello and Becky Hughes on Clarinet and oboe – lift them into a floating and haunting score.

Designer David Shieldsโ€™ setting is stark, simple and spot on. White books stacked on white bookcases feed the narrative as the actors plunder the shelves for their backstories. Robert McWhirโ€™s intuitive direction allows the action to wander through the audience, drawing us further in still. Eventually we donโ€™t mind that the ending is unresolved. We never get the full answers to the questions that this musical poses, yet we are filled with a sense of peace. It is quite a unique experience to be moved by something that isnโ€™t being shouted from the rooftops.

Alvin talks about the โ€˜Butterfly Effectโ€™ โ€“ the idea that the world is deeply interconnected, and that a small butterfly flapping its wings could, hypothetically, cause a typhoon somewhere else in the world. โ€œThe Story of My Lifeโ€ is seemingly small-scale, yet it has a huge effect. And an even bigger heart. A real gem that needs no Guardian Angel to ensure its success.


THE STORY OF MY LIFE at the Stage Door Theatre

Reviewed on 13th September 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Peter Davies

 

 


 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE TAILOR-MADE MAN | โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… | May 2024
MARRY ME A LITTLE | โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… | March 2024

THE STORY OF MY LIFE

THE STORY OF MY LIFE

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You Are Here

You Are Here

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Southwark Playhouse

You Are Here

You Are Here

Southwark Playhouse

Reviewed – 20th May 2021

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“a wonderfully crafted musical that ultimately surrenders itself to its audience”

 

โ€œOne small step for manโ€ or โ€œone small step for a manโ€? Whatever Neil Armstrong said, itโ€™s etched in humanityโ€™s collective memory forever more. People prefer the poetic balance of the former even though Armstrong insisted he said the latter โ€“ but there is no debate that Apollo 11โ€™s moon landing over fifty years ago was โ€œone giant leap for mankindโ€.

Chicago housewife Diana (Wendi Peters) was watching the blurred, monochrome images on her television screen on that night in the summer of 1969, whilst also gazing at the same crescent moon hanging in the night sky, framed by the confines of her suburban window. In an epiphanic moment she sees her own life, with her husband Gerard, as humdrum, a series of small steps. She wants her own giant leap and, unable to resist the tidal force of the moment, she wanders out into the night with just her purse and her innocence.

โ€˜The Grey Areaโ€™ Theatre Companyโ€™s new musical is a charming and intimate journey through the mind of a conflicted woman. She is simultaneously awestruck yet weary; an ingรฉnue who never thought she would live so long. Wendi Peters gives a fine and forceful performance that exposes the crystallised layers of her character. She winds up at the โ€˜Hotel Constellationโ€™, blows a weekโ€™s grocery money on one night and tosses away her diary, all the while being admonished by the voices in her head. Rebecca McKinnis, Jordan Frazier and Phil Adรจle represent these voices, as well as switching into the peripheral characters that surround Dianaโ€™s life, old and new. McKinnis, as Dianaโ€™s sophisticated but morally dubious neighbour deftly morphs into the surly hotel receptionist. Similarly, Adรจle, another friend and neighbour in Dianaโ€™s previous life becomes a Vietnam veteran clouding his trauma in dope-smoke. Frazierโ€™s hotel maid is the guiding hand that guides Diana through the maze of her new experiences. Far from being supporting characters or the chorus, their studied and varied performances are integral to the shifting tides of the show.

Neil Bartramโ€™s score is, at times, a touch too gentle but like Brian Hillโ€™s book, it isnโ€™t shooting for the moon. There is an underlying reserve that is refined rather than flamboyant. Certain numbers stand out, such as โ€œThe Invisible Manโ€ or โ€œIs That Me?โ€ โ€“ which oozes with a universal sadness. Peters mines the emotional gravity of the songs until there is very little left.

โ€œYou Are Hereโ€ is an odyssey and an oddity. It basks a lot of the time in the Sea of Tranquility, although a final twist towards the end of the show does propel it into another orbit, and the motifs and meanings take on a whole new shape. Itโ€™s a wonderfully crafted musical that ultimately surrenders itself to its audience. It is a voyage of self-discovery; whether we take optimism and hope with us, or grief and regret, is up to us. Whether a giant leap or a small step, it is a welcome return to live performance as we make our own journeys into the night again to Londonโ€™s theatreland.

 

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Callum Heinrich

 


You Are Here

Southwark Playhouse until 12th June

Additionally there are two live stream performances on Saturday 22nd May at 3pm and 7.30pm

 

Reviewed this year by Jonathan:
Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Hung Parliament | โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… | Online | February 2021
The Picture of Dorian Gray | โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… | Online | March 2021
Bklyn The Musical | โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… | Online | March 2021
Remembering the Oscars | โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… | Online | March 2021
Disenchanted | โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… | Online | April 2021
Preludes in Concert | โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… | Online | May 2021

 

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