at
the
New
Wolsey
Theatre, Ipswich
01.03.2016
Rumoured
to be based on the writer's own marriage woes, this charming chamber
musical fits the Wolsey like a glove.
The
structure is ingenious, with more than a hint of I
Do, I Do
and
Merrily
We Roll Along.
Bride and groom meet – and duet – somewhere in the middle;
otherwise their
timelines move in opposing directions, giving an ironic twist to past
and future passions.
In
Peter Rowe's fluid, uncluttered production, both characters are
frequently on stage together, sometimes interacting, sometimes not.
Which makes even greater demands on the actors, and the audience,
since time shifts in an instant, as Cathy
and Jamie dart around their five year relationship.
Katie
Birtill and Chris Cowley both inhabit their roles with conviction,
with plenty of vocal power and engaging presence. She, the loser in
this love match, eliciting rather more sympathy than he does, as he
unattractively eyes up “other women” almost as soon as the knot
is tied. But
in the end it's work – he's a flavour-of-the-month novelist, she an
aspiring actor – that comes between them. She stands starry-eyed
stage right as he pens a last letter and packs up his things. Just
ninety minutes before – straight through, no interval - he falls
naively in love, delighted
to be dating outside his faith, (he's
seen
“every Shapiro in Washington Heights”),
as
she laments
the end of her marriage in “Still Hurting”.
As
in Tell
Me On A Sunday,
the musical numbers are more like a song cycle than a sung-through
show. Charming pastiches, not stinting on a good tune; like Sondheim,
Brown knows how to tell a story in witty, snappy lyrics. A
very stylish band – ready for a Schubert quintet, by the look of
them – with MD Caroline Humphris at the grand piano. Some lovely
numbers, though nothing to whistle on the way home. “Summer in
Ohio”, about Cathy's awful experience in summer stock, the Chorus
Line moment as she auditions, using a wonderful homage to the Great
American Musical (“When You Come Home To Me”).
The
staging is simple and
intimate
– magical fairy lights for the opening, soft
spotlights for the solos, a
table doubling as a pier on the lake, a
love boat either side of the wedding, with her dialogue cleverly
mirroring his as she retreats into the past. The moments when the two
young lovers are happy in each other's company are a rare treat:
standing
together like the couple on the cake, Cathy sitting rapt and
cross-legged as Jamie acts out his Christmas story of the tailor
Schmuel before making her a present … of a watch.
production photograph: Mike Kwasniak
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