Theatre review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I may have to consciously try to keep this review short, because I suspect it's either that or sit up all night writing a dissertation and flailing. In 2019, Jethro Compton (book and lyrics) and Darren Clark (music and lyrics) presented their musical adaptation of the endlessly reinvented F. Scott Fitzgerald short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in Southwark Playhouse's Little Theatre. It was a short run but I ended my review at the time hoping it would have bigger and better things in its future. It was a widely-held opinion and I'm not claiming any special foresight, but we know by now how theatrical gems can disappear without trace. But its return to the theatre four years later in the new main Elephant stage not only steps up the scale but also comes with a list of big-name producers plus West End and Broadway names in the leads, so it's fair to say its potential has been spotted.

Compton remains as director and set designer, and two of the original cast, Matthew Burns and Philippa Hogg also return, but this time instead of an ensemble of five they're part of a team of twelve - although they still all multi-role as well as playing all the instruments in this adaptation that moves the story's opening to Cornwall in 1918.

Jamie Parker plays Benjamin, born on a day when strange phenomena affect time in his small town, with him as the last and strangest. He arrives in the world apparently aged 70, complete with clothes, glasses, cane and keen interest in the crossword. His mother can't cope with having given birth to a "monster" and throws herself into the sea; his father (Benedict Salter) cares for him, but still locks him away so that nobody can find out their family's secret. He assumes the elderly baby will just continue ageing and be dead in a few years, but instead Benjamin starts to age backwards. As he gets younger and stronger, he can't be kept prisoner as easily, and escapes to see the world outside.

This includes working in a dangerous tin mine, fighting in the Second World War and travelling to America to find a cure for his unique condition, but the recurring theme of his life is his love story with Elowen Keene (Molly Osborne.) This begins as an age-gap relationship, ends with an age gap the other way, and in the middle has a perfect moment when the two meet in the middle at the age of forty. In fact the show feels even more defined now by the various relationships in which Benjamin and someone he cares for get closer together in age then move apart again - his father, Elowen, his son (Anna Fordham,) and eventually his granddaughter. I also felt like the friendship with young miner Jack (Jack Quarton) becomes more of a focus in this version.

Parker turns out to be inspired casting for Benjamin - he has a mix of cheekiness and world-weariness that suits him both at the beginning and end of his life, and a quiet depth of emotion that takes us through the considerable highs and lows, and the moments when despite everything his life has stretches of the normality he craves. Osborne is a strong foil to him but the leads don't overwhelm the production - this is still very much an ensemble show, and if it wears its slickness on its sleeve a bit more than the previous version, it's lost none of its charm.

It's a shame this couldn't have run at the peak of sea shanty fever, given that was during lockdown and all, but I can't see the richly varied, folksy music disappointing too many people even if it's missed that perfect moment. This is where the cast's talents and enthusiasm most get to shine, in songs that do include the kind of melancholy number that you'd expect from a story that meditates on time, life and death, but for the most part it's tuneful, energetic, sometimes barnstorming tunes that make the atmosphere palpably electric (cast recording when?) I got as emotional and tearful as in the scrappier version in 2019, although for slightly different reasons: I've seen thousands of shows, many of them instantly forgettable or downright bad, but it's the rare ones like this that really make it all worth it - if I sometimes describe my theatregoing as an addiction, this is the ultimate hit. Certain theatrical clichés get thrown around a lot but in this instance I really didn't want it to end.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Jethro Compton and Darren Clark, based on the story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is booking until the 1st of July at Southwark Playhouse Elephant.

Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Juan Coolio.