Theatre review: Just For One Day

I've got to say I found the idea of Just For One Day a bit baffling, and having now seen John O'Farrell's jukebox musical setting the story behind the scenes of Live Aid to songs from the setlist, I still feel a bit vague about what exactly's going on at the Old Vic at the moment. I want to say the framing device is a young woman in the present day, Jemma (Naomi Katiyo) wanting to know more about the event for, I guess, a history project, but the use of multiple narrators muddles this. She gets help from Suzanne (Retired Lesbian Jackie Clune,) who was at Wembley for the concert, as well as Bob Geldof (Craige Els) himself, who for some reason is available to give the inside scoop. So in 1984 Bob sees a news report about a famine in Ethiopia and is horrified - by the suffering, the general indifference and lack of aid from wealthier nations, and from the fact that while he knows others will be upset by the story as well, it'll soon be forgotten by most people when the news cycle moves on.

So he comes up with an idea both to fundraise and to make it impossible to ignore, by enlisting Midge Ure (Jack Shalloo) to write a Christmas single. The first act is taken up with them assembling the biggest British pop stars of the time for "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

It's a hit, raises awareness and spawns an egregious American spin-off in "We Are The World," but on actually visiting Africa Bob learns that the political chaos in the region that was partly responsible for the famine in the first place, also means the supplies the record bought are virtually impossible to get to the people who need them. To get around the even greater cost of the logistics he decides to stage a fundraising concert, once again with the biggest musical stars, split between London and Philadelphia, with Phil Collins appearing at both venues because even if they're not the ones starving, it's only fair that the audience suffer a bit too.

What makes Just For One Day hard to review is the huge difference in quality between the construction of the show, and the production Luke Sheppard has given it. As ever, it's hard to blame theatres in the current climate for trying to find a guaranteed hit, and nostalgia is about as safe a bet for that as you can find, but O'Farrell continues to strike me as someone who's written more musicals than he's seen, putting this together very clumsily. So the voice of this nostalgia is Suzanne, who we also see as her younger self (Hope Kenna,) working in a record shop with her crush Tim (Joe Edgar,) whom she's trying to convince of the project's significance.

But there's also an idea of trying to credit the behind-the-scenes people without whom Geldof couldn't have pulled off anything - Ashley Campbell, Olly Dobson, Joel Montague and Danielle Steers are the team of execs, technicians and lawyers who make the concert happen, reminding us it wasn't a one-man show. The show forgets about Midge Ure about halfway through, but then it wouldn't be the Live Aid story without everyone forgetting about Midge Ure. We also get a voice from Ethiopia itself, albeit not from the famine victims but from British Red Cross worker Amara (Abiona Omonua) who's cynical about Geldof getting anything done but eventually is impressed by his determination. As is even Margaret Thatcher (understudy Kerry Enright,) with the play suggesting Geldof was the only person ever to make the Iron Sociopath change her mind. And duet with him on "I'm Still Standing."

Although the production doesn't star household names, people who know musical theatre will recognise a hell of a lot of these, some as leads in major productions, so Sheppard certainly isn't skimping on talent as far as the cast goes. And it pays off, as Matthew Brind's new orchestrations of the many hits are given fresh, exciting and energetic performances. I'm guessing it's also Sheppard who's ensured the show is a bit more diverse in terms of race and gender than the concert - a quick reference to the stage being full of middle-aged white men is the closest the script comes to dealing with accusations of white saviour complex.

So I certainly can't say Just For One Day isn't an entertaining couple of hours - I did have a good time and the cast and production are well worth seeing. It's not a well-constructed musical though, and while there's nothing wrong with a nostalgia trip, it seems a wasted opportunity to do something more than just an '80s tribute concert. I'm also going to guess it's a fairly personal nostalgia trip and O'Farrell was at Wembley, given the Philadelphia leg is referenced but not many songs from it show up. I wonder if he was near the woman sitting next to us, who cheered when Clune asked if anyone in the audience was there. I wonder if she clapped off the beat during "We Will Rock You" then as well.

Just For One Day by John O'Farrell, John Fogerty, Bob Geldof, Johnnie Fingers, Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Billy Currie, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Sting, Mary, Mungo, Midge Ure, Daryl Hall, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Pete Townshend, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Your Mum, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, D. McDaniels, J. Mizel, J. Simmons, L. Smith, R. Simmons, Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, Ray Davies, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Madonna, Stephen Bray, Ric Ocasek, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter is booking until the 30th of March at the Old Vic.

Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.