Soho Theatre, London
***
New British
musical theatre which strives for originality and innovation is what the art
form needs to ensure that it continues to gain credibility. Craig Adams
(Composer & Lyricist) and Ian Watson (Book) with direction from Steven
Paling have provided a dose of this with their production of LIFT. The story is constructed and
narrated through the imagination of a Busker (George Maguire) who visualises
the lives of people he sees every day on his way up to Covent Garden in the
famous lifts.
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| Photo: Darren Bell |
Cynthia
Erivo whose character leads a double life as a ballet dancer by day and lap
dancer by night, gives goose pimples with her soaring voice and Jonny Fines is
excellent as the conflicted dancer who is concealing his homosexuality from his
fiancée back home in Newcastle. Erivo and Fines characters have the most
interesting relationship in the production by giving an insight into fluid
sexuality and unspoken heartbreak.
Nikki Davis
is also very compelling as the PA with unrequited feelings for her boss (Luke
Kempner), the ambitious and heartbroken businessman. True to form, Julie
Atherton gives a beautiful turn as the introverted lesbian French Teacher, in
love with her compulsive student.
Design
(Georgia Lowe) is impressive – the staging is a wide cross shape which has
tracks running along the edges so that moveable frames with neon lights can
move vertically and horizontally, creating a confined lift shaped square around
characters.
There are
very loud echoes of RENT; particularly
channelled through Maguire as the jilted observer using the people around him
to try and make sense of his own life, much like the narrator character of Mark
in RENT. There is even a moment when
the cast of eight line-up and sing about defining their life in minutes… some
familiar territory.
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| Photo: Darren Bell |
However,
this is not to the detriment of the production which is both clever and
intriguing. It would have been nice to have more variety in the score which
features a lot of ballads, but the cast sound gorgeous in ensemble numbers and
the aesthetic and concept are very strong.
This production runs until 24 February 2013.
For more information: http://www.sohotheatre.com/whats-on/lift/
@SohoTheatre @LiftMusical
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