“A sad tale is best for winter”
The last two adaptations of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (Propeller
and the Unicorn’s recent version) have left me rather distraught with their
takes on this problem play, and Howard Goodall similarly had me reaching for
the tissues with his Love Story and last year’s revival of The Hired Man at the
Landor Theatre. So it’s safe to say that there was a certain degree of
expectation as I returned to the Clapham North pub theatre to see the final
preview of Goodall’s latest project, A Winter’s Tale - a musical inspired by
Shakespeare’s play with a book by Nick Stimson.
The first act is just glorious. This Sicilia is a dark, military world and this
is obvious from the off with a magnificent multi-layered opener of
goose-pimpling intensity which sets the scene perfectly. Pete Gallagher’s
Leontes and Alastair Brookshaw’s visiting Polixines make a fine pair of kings, all
good-natured joshing until Helen Power’s Ekaterina enters the scene to persuade
Polixines to extend his visit whereupon the red mist of vicious jealousy descends
on Leontes with devastating consequences for all concerned. Goodall’s swirling
melodies and impassioned lyrics are ideally suited to this emotional whirlpool
and all three leads excel, backed up by a large but impressive ensemble who
bear witness to the tragic consequences of Leontes’ blinkered viewpoint.
I found the second act a little more difficult though. The shift to the
pastoral scenes of Bohemia, Polixines’ kingdom, is a challenge that every
production of The Winter’s Tale has to face and this one lost something for me
in the journey there (although not in Martin Thomas’ clever design which achieves
a lot with great subtlety). Part of it comes from Stimson’s book which does
little to initially establish Perdita and Florizel but it was also partly down
to Goodall’s music taking a strange turn to the bland which meant Abigail
Matthews and Fra Fee were largely fighting a losing battle in making me care
about their relationship. Matters are not helped by retaining the character of Autolycus,
here renamed Rob and played by a roguish Ciaran Joyce, who serves mainly as
comic relief in delivering some of Goodall’s more whimsical numbers including
an ode to lamb (as opposed to pasta…), time that could be spent developing the
more central characters.
There are a handful of strong tunes here though too, a lovely female duet and
the stirring number led by Perdita as she pleads to Polixines to be reasonable
makes the Bohemian scenes better as the show progresses. And fortunately the
play returns to Sicilia before the end, making for a stronger finale of
reunions, reconciliations and repentance to the more persuasive tune of this
melancholy court. Helena Blackman shows off an impressive maturity as Paulina,
her presence a steadying anchor for all around her even in the midst of another
oddly comic song, and the production draws together its strands most
effectively. Stimson’s recutting of the dynamic at the end is an interesting
choice and one that director Andrew Keates could probably afford to push a
little further in the final image of the show to sound a clearer emotional note.
Still, the first half is as good a piece of musical theatre as you will see
this year and already has me impatient for some kind of cast recording (I might
just have to revisit to hear the gorgeous music again). The strength of the
performances from the cast, from the bands and from the creative ensures an enthusiastic
sweep through the material which never drags, and I can well imagine future life for this British musical as it is continued to be further developed. I may not have cried but I
certainly applauded.
Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes (with interval)
Booking until 1st December
Labels: Abigail Matthews, Alastair Brookshaw, Catherine Mort, Ciaran Joyce, David Brewis, Fra Fee, Gareth James Healey, Helen Power, Helena Blackman, Lauren McGloan, Pete Gallagher, Rachael Louise Miller, Ross Barnes
