Southampton Mayflower – 4 April 2017. Reviewed by Karen Millington Burnet
Wow, another superb night at a great Southampton Mayflower production – impressive! An incredibly fast moving production by a fabulous cast and crew and an impressive musical performance by the outstanding orchestra.
The performance opened with a breathtaking and high octane bang and didn’t stop until half time. The second half was as high-tempo and breathless. The man of the match for me must be Jon Robyns as Robbie; a masterclass in performing talent. While we took a while to warm to him, by the middle of the first half he had captivated us. I was rooting for Cassie Compton’s Julia to walk away with the accolade; a huge pleasure to hear such a voice and acting ability from the diminutive Cassie – but in the end, for me, she was pipped by the versatility of Jon Robyns. That said, the cast were outstandingly drilled and athletic and Ashley Emmerson’s Sammy with his expressive hair, Sam Holmes’ delightfully camp George and the endless versatility of Mark Pearce shone strongly amongst a hugely capable cast of nineteen genuine acting talents; great comedic timing and effect from all three of them.
I became transfixed during the performance by the fantastic array of costumes and huge strawberries to the costume department; that said, why were Ashley Hall-Rickets’ trousers always shorter than everyone else’s? I did fall in love with the endless sparkle of Holly’s costumes and Roxanne Pallett carried them off with great style but I was alarmed at times by Tara Verloop’s Linda and just how far she was prepared to strip off! A must-see is the body-double for Ruth Madoc; worth a return visit just to catch another performance as I think I blinked at just the wrong moment! My only – and persistent – criticism with the cast (and it is becoming a common irritation for me) is the inability of British actors to carry off a consistent and credible American accent both in conversation and song. I know it’s hard, but it did become a slight Cook’s Tour of a variety of East and West coast States.
The supporting team, as ever, were top class. The props were imaginative and well managed, even if there were a couple of hiccups. The lighting was a masterclass in its own right, even if, yet again, the chaps on the spotlights seemed to miss their target on the stage occasionally. The musicianship was quite as energetic as the stage performance and never once flagged – a really good effort, if quite undeservedly invisible. And a special mention must be made of the choreographers who must have been exhausted just dreaming up the routines let alone bringing them to life; albeit, with the talent in this cast, their job must have been a joy.
Leaving the Stalls after the performance can occasionally feel rather like trying to get off the Titanic and with better lighting would be less of a shuffle and slightly easier after the roller-coaster ride of the performance; however, we are getting used to it.