Theatre review: Lizzie

Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, Tim Maner and Alan Stevens Hewitt's musical Lizzie premiered in 2009, but hasn't had a full UK production before. The Hope Mill's touring production, which lands at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, makes a pretty strong case for why there was no rush. A rock musical about notorious American axe-murderer Lizzie Borden (she was actually acquitted, but that's not really the part anyone remembers, and this version of her story assumes her guilt,) it's a strange, monotonous misfire that puts women centre-stage to reclaim their story (if it didn't long predate SIX it would seem like an obvious rip-off; of course that one has some actual female creatives...) The musical style is a kind of punky rock, although the vocal style is very much traditional American musical theatre, in the sense that any note not belted at the top of the actors' lungs is considered a note wasted.

Lizzie (cover Emma Louise Hoey) is abused by her father, who then changes his will to write his daughters out of it, in favour of their hated stepmother. Lizzie responds by murdering her stepmother, her father, and subtlety. Opening with this bleak backstory is a hard tone for a musical to get right, which Cheslik-deMeyer, Maner and Stevens Hewitt respond to with angry, stomping songs. This turns out to be how they respond to everything that happens in the story. It means the whole evening plays out on a single emotional level, as well as the fact that the old problem of the sound mix has reared its ugly head again so it's hard to make out any of the actual lyrics (although I did get that there's a tendency to break into random quotes from Macbeth. Why? Yes.)

Shekinah McFarlane as Lizzie's sister Emma is in a permanent state of swivel-eyed panic, while best friend Alice (Maiya Quansah-Breed) is too busy humping Lizzie's leg to notice the red flags. I can only assume Irish maid Bridget's (Mairi Barclay) face-pulling is meant to be the comic relief and, well, I wish her well, and hope she finds whoever stole her Lucky Charms. But William Whelton's production steadfastly avoids finding any black comedy or camp in the story, despite the second act suggesting that there is an intention to play this more tongue-in-cheek: It's just all too relentlessly OTT, treating genuine trauma and exaggerated gore the same, for any nuance to squeeze in. For the curtain call, the cast change into modern rock-chick outfits to do a medley nobody asked for, kicking the air in a way that truly embodies the spirit of Bargain Hunt.

Lizzie by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, Tim Maner and Alan Stevens Hewitt is booking until the 2nd of December at Southwark Playhouse Elephant.

Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes including interval.