Trip Cullman's production looks great, with a wide set from Christine Jones and Brett J. Banakis that recreates the many bars and motels they end up visiting, full of framed photos, neon signs and stuffed animal heads that evoke a very particular kind of Americana.
Along with Sonia Friedman's presence on the production team it all suggests there's an eye on a transfer, although quite how well the show would stand up to the scrutiny of a bigger space I'm not sure: Led by the very likeable title pairing the cast are great and there's a lot of fun moments, but there's a couple of major elements that don't quite work, including the comic lines, which in the first half especially got a whole lot of tumbleweed from tonight's audience.
There's also Case's songs, which are a strange mix of more traditional musical theatre and something more discordant, in a way that doesn't feel entirely intentional: They tend to start out tuneful enough, then become a kind of stream of conscience spilling out with no concern for rhyme or scansion, and the cast are left desperately trying to squeeze a lengthy sentence into a bar without enough notes in it.
Maybe this bothered me more than it might because the show's visuals, with Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber's choreography leaning into barn dance, so strongly suggest the musical theme is going to be Country and Western. So to get only little hints of that is disappointing when (a) it's a genre known for its pithy, witty lyrics and (b) as far as I can tell 90% of modern female-led Country is on the theme of "I'm fairly certain my boyfriend cheated on me so I murdered him just in case." The second act picks up both the energy and the humour, helped by an opener in which Thelma robs someone in the front row, and setpieces like the pair holding up and stripping a State Trooper (Jack Butterworth.)
And even if I didn't click with the songs the show is pretty generous with the way it dishes them out not only to the leads and supporting cast but the ensemble as well. The two-woman feminist crusade is occasionally backed up by a female chorus, and we get a varied group of men helping and (mostly) hindering them. Samuel Edwards' possessive husband Darryl contrasts with Alex Gibson-Giorgio's supportive but ineffectual Jimmy, while Jordan Luke Gage charms in his scenes as dodgy drifter JD.
The only man who actually seems to be trying to help Thelma & Louise is the one meant to be hunting them down, Hal (Trevor Dion Nicholas) and there's a nicely sly little dig at issues that remain current when the black detective has to make sure he always wears his badge to stop his own deputy (Alex Given) from shooting him on sight. All things told this is an entertaining evening that sticks pretty closely to the original without entirely justifying its musical expansion; and you've got to admire a certain amount of - admittedly misguided - chutzpah in Cullman staging a road trip without once putting his characters into a car. Especially given the famous ending.
Thelma & Louise by Callie Khouri and Neko Case, based on the screenplay by Callie Khouri, is booking until the 24th of October at the Young Vic.
Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes including interval.
Photo credit: Helen Murray.
No comments:
Post a Comment