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One hundred people’s ninth favourite thing: [title of show] @swkplay

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[title of show] takes you back to a time before the fast paced social media where word of mouth for a positive show came from chat boards, video diaries or (god forbid) blogs. A simple staging makes it an ideal (and economical piece to stage), but it’s sweet and earnest take on just putting on a show, and putting it out there and taking a chance gives this show its heart. With a strong and energetic cast and endless musical theatre references, it’s hard to resist and it’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse .  It opens with Hunter (Jacob Fowler) and Jeff (Thomas Oxley) as struggling young writers in New York City. An upcoming New York Musical Theatre festival, inspires them to write an original musical within three weeks to make the deadline. As they discuss ideas, writers block, distractions and endless other good and bad musicals, an idea for a show emerges. Which is about writing a show for a musical theatre festival.  Their friends Heidi (Abbie Budden) and Susan (Mary Moor

Axes to grind: Violet @charingcrossthr


A game of poker, a greyhound bus trip and a few stops at whorehouses of America lead to salvation. Or so it appears in Violet, a musical getting its UK premiere at Charing Cross Theatre. An inspired production set in the traverse and a stellar cast are somewhat let down by a superficial story. And sound that made it difficult to hear what people were singing about.

Violet is set in 1964 North Carolina.  It's about a young woman who was disfigured as child when her father was careless with an axe. With her life savings she travels on a bus trip across the country in search of a miracle healer and tele-evangelist in Oklahoma. Along the way she strikes up a friendship with benefits with two young soldiers.

With this setup I was half expecting a Dogfight on the bus. But instead of some kinda time, things are kept bright and sweet with its bluegrass score by Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley. But soon the sweetness becomes relentless. By the time you're half way through you're already in a diabetic shock from the soaring melodies and lyrical platitudes. There's lots of music, but none allow for anything other than a skin deep examination of the characters.


As Violet Kaisa Hammarlund seems full of boundless enthusiasm that makes the piece fun to watch and worth the journey. Jay Marsh as the sensitive soldier Flick also has some great scenes and strong vocals. Rounding out the love triangle Matthew Harvey also makes his presence felt as the beefy soldier who shows Violet a good time.

The production moves the action further into the theatre with its traverse staging and revolve. It looks great with its with wooden panels covered with body parts ripped from magazines. But even if the sight lines are improved, the sound seems muffled. Particularly when the ensemble is on stage, making it hard to follow what's going on.

Directed by Shuntaro Fujita, this is a co-production with Umeda Arts and will transfer to Tokyo after it concludes its run at the Charing Cross Theatre on 6 April.

⭐️⭐️⭐️



Photos by Scott Rylander

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