Curve Theatre Leicester – until 3rd January 2024
Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh
3***
Evita is a powerhouse of a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, about Eva Perón, the Argentine actress turned political icon and second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita’s struggle, her early life, rise to power, charity work, and her untimely death. Hugely successful, it led to productions in London’s West End in 1978, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical, and on Broadway a year later. It has continued to wow audiences with each revival.
This brand-new Made at Curve production, directed by Nikolai Foster, promised to deliver a bold and visually arresting rendition, to try and match the original ambition Tim and Andrew had when they first created this extraordinary piece of musical theatre, and the opening scene was definitely in line with this. Perón’s funeral was pulled off to perfection. We were greeted with a coffin placed on a raised plinth, surrounded by trays of candles and a chorus of mourners whose movements and voices were filled with haunting grief.
However, as the production continued it became confused. There seemed to be very little sense of being in Argentina, and although the scaffolding lined stage and the exposed lighting rigs, designed by set and lighting designers Michael Taylor and Joshie Harriette, added style, ultimately, in this telling, Evita and her story get lost in gimmicks, bells and whistles. Most notably a huge screen which projects live images from a handheld camera. This is excessively used and negates the beauty of being in a theatre. The execution is sloppy at some points as you are focused on a massive screen showing an empty step, or someone’s foot, instead of the actors on stage. Had this technique been used sparingly it may have added to the production, but instead it hindered and detracted.
Martha Kirby was vocally stunning as Eva Perón, but lacked the emotional gravitas needed to fully get to grips with and portray this very extraordinary woman. There is no progression or development from her character as a young actress to the polished political figure. Offered the superb ‘Rainbow High’ to show this transformation, again it’s lost in smoke and literal mirrors. Stuck as a flirty, flighty teen, I was left indifferent to this Perón and unconvinced by her plight. ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ was sung with sublime clarity but the performance was dispassionate and unanimated, capturing neither Perón‘s charisma, integrity or sincerity. Additionally problematic, is a marked lack of chemistry between Kirby and Gary Milner, who plays Juan Perón. When they sing their destiny duet, ‘I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You’, its awkward, rushed and they stand static with dancers coming in to do what they appear unable to do, connect physically.
Chumisa Dornford-May blew the theatre away with her rendition of ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall’, combining emotion with a performance powerful enough to bring a lump to my throat. Tyrone Huntley’s narrator is powerful, but you’re never quite sure of his position in the piece. The ensemble brought tons of energy to the production, and it was great to see members of the Young Curve Company amongst them.
This production of Evita is in parts, beautiful to look at, with a wonderfully talented cast, but the confused context, the inconsistencies in performance, the imbalance between production values and characterisation, makes it overall, a tantalising glimpse of what we might have been watching had it been a more coherent and substance driven show.