Doom and Bloom on LONDON ROAD

THEATRE: National Theatre, London

DATE: 20-08-2011

TIME: 19:30

WITH: Kate Fleetwood, Paul Thornley, Michael Schaeffer, Rosalie Craig, Claire Moore, Nicola Sloane, Clare Burt, Hal Fowler, Howard Ward, Nick Holder, Duncan Wisbey
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR: Javier de Frutos

DIRECTOR: Rufus Norris

No reinventions of classic American musicals at the National Theatre under Nicholas Hytner’s watch. When musicals do appear they are far edgier and surprising than under previous regimes, from “Jerry Springer, The Opera” and “Caroline, or Change” to “Fela!” Now there is “London Road,” an unlikely musical about the prostitute murders in Ipswich. The production is inventively staged by Rufus Norris and performed by a formidable ensemble. What the production lacks for in drama and text it makes up for in theatricality and Adam Cork’s glorious music.

For this piece Alecky Blythe  (an experienced verbatim theatre artist) interviewed several residents, who were living on London Road around the time of the murders. The libretto completely consists of these interview transcripts. They give the production a certain authenticity, but simultaneously represent its weak link. For the way ordinary people express themselves is usually not very interesting on stage. Doing without lyrical pleasures is therefore a given in this musical.

Luckily there is Adam Cork’s heavenly music. He had the unenviable task of setting music to the exact speech patterns of interviewees; including hesitations, inarticulateness and repetitions. Cork does this with enormous skill, ingenuity and the music is the catalyst for what drama there is. He even makes an ‘uhm’ and a list of flower names soar into the heavens and tug at the heart. His score is really nothing short of a miracle and brilliantly performed by a six-piece band led by David Shrubsole.

The libretto does not focus on the prostitutes, serial killer or police investigation. On the contrary, it zooms in on ordinary citizens and deals with the after effects of the murders on the community. Particularly those belonging to the Neighborhood Watch, whose activities include organising a flower show.

 

There is surprisingly very little dramatic development in the piece and the second act is actually not very different from the first. All the characters are mostly complaining about the tarnished reputation of their neighborhood, devalue of property and press invasions. They are too homogenous. Great drama consists out of contrasts, of which there is too little here. The reason why The Laramie Project worked so well was one got to hear many opposing and contrasting voices. It investigated, in the same ‘verbatim way,’ how gay student Matthew Shepard could have been brutally murdered in Laramie. In London Road there is only one song in which the remaining prostitutes get to express themselves.

The 11-member ensemble, which includes Kate Fleetwood (Tony nominee for Macbeth), Rosalie Craig (Aspects of Love), Claire Moore (original Ellen in Miss Saigon) and Paul Thornley (The Three Musketeers), is quite extraordinary. Not only do they flawlessly inhabit more than 60 roles, but also perform the complex score to perfection, and are able to reach every audience member on three sides and levels of the intimate Cottesloe theatre.

Rufus Norris’ (Festen, Cabaret) inventive staging keeps surprising at every turn. An urn transforms into a flower basket, couches slide across the stage, and residents get entangled in police tape. The finale is a coup de theatre. As the music soars, the theatre is filled with light and flower baskets, and truly lifts the spirit. Although London Road has its dramatic and structural flaws it is definitely worth seeing. The staging, ensemble and music make it one of the most original and surprising music theatre pieces of the year. If you missed the production I highly recommend the cast recording, because the music is terrific.

London Road was recently nominated for Best Musical in the prestigious Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Winners are announced on November 20.