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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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We’re warned at the start of the show with an upbeat number that this is not the usual sort of musical. And it turns out to be just that. But with boundless enthusiasm and energy from its two leads, who deploy a range of voices and breathtaking energy to create a series of voices for puppet characters, a bedtime story becomes a silly oddball tale about four souls stuck in purgatory. With puppets. And various toilet humour references. It’s currently playing at Upstairs At The Gatehouse . The piece starts as a bedtime story. Daddy (Mark Underwood) is about to read a bedtime story for Louise (Sarah Louise Hughes). But her stomach felt funny, and soon, she went to the bathroom. Then, for reasons that seem to only make sense in the confines of the show, they start telling the story of four people who died in unfortunate circumstances in the bathroom. Depicted as puppets, they’re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesn’t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...

Eternal guilt: Dorian The Musical @SWKplay


Dorian is a new musical that updates Oscar Wilde’s gothic novel from the uptight Victorian era to an undetermined period of gender fluidity and glam rock. On paper, musicalising the Picture of Dorian Gray to a period of glam rock, social media, and cheap shoes seems like a good idea. After all, Oscar Wilde’s gothic story is very adaptable. It has been the source of countless adaptations for the stage, television or movies. I was half expecting a trashy Dorian, similar to the early 1980s telemovie that shifted Dorian’s gender to a woman. This version falls into a so bad it’s good category with Anthony Perkins in a lead role, who as he ages under makeup starts to look like Andy Warhol. 


And while it’s great to see a new show, a strong cast can’t compensate for such an earnest production with underpowered songs. There’s no sense of fun, and some curious staging and costume choices  -mismatched dresses, crocodile boots and furry suits - serve as a distraction. It’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse (Borough). 

There are some subtle changes to the names and characters of the source material. Dorian (Alfie Friedman) is a broody, sullen man on the brink of musical fame. A photoshoot by Baz (Leeroy Boone) leads to a framed picture that becomes old while Dorian pursues a hedonistic lifestyle with his ambiguously straight friend Harry (George Renshaw). Death, drugs, and many pearl necklaces follow Dorian around.

But the songs don’t tend to move the drama forward and feel repetitive. If you sell your soul for eternal youth, there has to be some upside. Instead, we get introspection. We could have had a good time if there had been a nudge and a wink that everyone was in on the craziness. 

Directed by Linnie Reedman with a book by Linnie Reedman and music and lyrics by Joe Evans, Dorian is at the Southwark Playhouse until 10 August. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Photos by Danny Kaan


 

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