Keep your nose out of my business!

The latest in an occasional series of theatre reviews...

Oklahoma! : Wyndham Theatre

Our annual Kids week family trip to the theatre - so I'm sitting in the posh(ish) seats and in a new (for me) theatre as well.  I've never seen any version of Oklahoma!, but I feel I'm going to be safe with a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, aren't I?

Well, this is all a bit odd as we enter the theatre!  All the lights are on - not just the house lights, but all the spots as well so it's really bright, almost uncomfortably so.  And the theatre, which I assume generally looks lovely, is all covered in plywood and guns which, whilst I assume is an appropriate look, isn't the loveliest decor I can imagine.

So, given the lack of curtain and the stage lights being on, we're not overly surprised when the cast just wanders on to the stage and starts chatting and singing - but it is a bit of a surprise that the house lights don't go down.  And up they stay for most of the performance - except when they don't (more on this later).

As I said, I've not seen Oklahoma! before, but the format was pretty much as I expected - women and men pairing off and splitting up in various confusing ways with things finding a way to work out in the end.  But I really wasn't expecting a lot of the things that I experienced along the way and I was also surprised "the end" featured a bride and groom shell-shocked and covered in blood.

It did at least feature some songs I recognised - the title song, "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin",  "I Cain't Say No" and "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" (and yes, I only know it from When Harry Met Sally).  I also particularly liked "Kansas City" which wasn't a song I knew - but most of them were sung well, if not always with the brio that I was expecting.

And if the songs were downbeat, the overall mood was very dark indeed (as you may have guessed from the previously mentioning ending) - this is not a feel-good version of the musical, with some bits of it being very creepy indeed.  There are some laughs at times, but the general tone is somewhat unsettling - I can imagine that if you have seen plenty of versions of the show then maybe it's a refreshing change to have a different viewpoint, but I suspect it wasn't an ideal one for me to start with.

And if the mood was dark, the lighting was (at times) even darker - there are a couple of scenes in the show when we are sat in a pitch black theatre with no lights on at all.  A few times, the lighting was quite effectively used but for most of the show it felt like the director was challenging the norms for no other reason than to challenge them - the contrast with the absolutely gorgeous (and yes, boringly traditional) lighting used in The Crucible the night before could not have been starker.

I've been pretty general in my comments so far but I do have to refer to one specific scene - the "Dream Ballet" section where, in the original version, one of the characters performs an lengthy ballet sequence which represents her dreaming which of her two suitors she should pursue.  Well, in this version, someone we've never seen before stomps on stage in a teeshirt and performs some ropey looking contemporary moves (Emily was VERY unimpressed) being pursued by various strangely dressed characters whilst some cowboy boots fall on to the stage from a great height.  Both girls said they found this scene very difficult to watch - but only because they had work really hard to stop themselves laughing.  And whilst I couldn't possibly condone such barbaric comments from my little cultural philistines, I do have to admit that they MIGHT have had a point - it was definitely, errr, curious.

So, within the unusual confines of the director's vision, how do the performers do?  Anoushka Lewis as Laurey Williams is the stand-out performer for me - she has a beautiful voice and managed to convey both fragility and strength in her performance.  Paige Peddie as Ado Annie also shines, oozing charisma as she interacts well with both James Patrick Davis and Stravos Demetraki as they compete for her affection/attention.  Sam Palladio as Curly is somewhat less impressive for me - yes, he can play a guitar and boy does he like to show us.  Patrick Vaill as Jud Fry is more impressive in his role - he's not a nice person, but he does manage to elicit some sympathy.

I'm also going to mention Sally Ann Triplett as Aunt Eller - the program makes it clear that she has done loads of sterling work on both screen and stage but somehow neglects to mention the things that I knew her for, which is obviously her time on Crackerjack and as half of Bardo, representing the UK in the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest.  I didn't know this but Wikipedia tells me she was also part of Prima Donna in 1980, making her one of only four people to represent the UK twice, along with Ronnie Carroll, Cliff Richard and Cheryl Baker.  How could she leave that off her CV?!?

I've been a bit down on this version - I do think a lot of what was tried had potential but just didn't work or this wasn't the place for it, although there was some interesting use of camera work and projection which showed promise.  It also worth pointing out that although this is (I'm told) very different from other versions, the director has not changed a word of the score - he is just presenting people's actions in a different light, which is clever and I might have appreciated it if I was more familiar with the musical (but, to be honest, probably not).

Let's try to end on a positive note - the theatre seems very nice!  It's quite small so we had great views - even allowing for the fact that I was sitting in the posh seats everything was much clearer than normal.  Although, interestingly, my wife's seat was noticeably narrower than mine despite being right next to it which isn't something you'd usually get the opportunity to notice.

My daughters know I like to write up my shows and, in this case, insisted on being allowed to provide (very) critical reviews, so I have to inform you that Emily thinks it is "a complete waste of time, effort and money" whereas Isobel went for the slightly more dramatic "it made me want to shrivel up and die".  For me, the girls' reaction to the show was probably the most enjoyable thing about the evening - Emily wore a pained expression as though she couldn't fathom what she'd done that we made her experience it and Isobel was mildly hysterical as she wondered if we were pranking her by making her watch it.  Oh well - maybe we'll read the critical reviews before we pick a show next year...

If, after this glowing review, you fancy experiencing it for yourself, then you're really going to have to get a move on because it closes on Saturday.  But seriously, go and watch The Crucible instead...

The Crucible - An impressive and enjoyable evening
Mr Swallow - A fun evening out