British Musicals:
‘Wasted’ (2018)
Book and Lyrics by Carl
Miller
Music by Christopher
Ash
History
‘Wasted’
is a musical by Carl Miller (The National Theatre’s ‘Emil &
The Detectives’) and Christopher Ash (founder member of
‘Showstopper!
- The Improvised Musical'). Seen through the lens of a
rock documentary, the show is an access-all-areas account of the
struggles, heartbreaks and triumphs of the three Brontë sisters,
Charlotte, Emily & Anne, and their brother Branwell.
Following ‘work in
progress’ performances at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Park
Theatre London in 2016, the world premiere of the completed show was
at the Southwark Playhouse on 6th September 2018, in a production
co-produced by Big
Finish supremo, Jason Haigh-Ellery. Leading the cast
as Charlotte was Natasha Barnes, best known for covering for the
indisposed Sheridan Smith in ‘Funny Girl’ in the West End a
couple of years ago. Joining her were Siobhan Athwal as Emily, Molly
Lynch as Anne, and Matthew Jacobs Morgan as Branwell.
Story
Brought up in a remote
poverty-stricken town in Yorkshire, without money or opportunity, the
Brontës fight ill-health, unrequited love and family feuds to write
some of the most celebrated works of literature, including ‘Jane
Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’. The lives behind the
pages expose a struggling, squabbling, ferociously driven,
drug-fuelled crash and burn trajectory from obscurity to celebrity,
and ultimately their untimely deaths. The musical strives to explain
how these ingenious women were left wondering whether their lives had
been wasted.
In A Nutshell
The Brontës. They rock
!
Production
Back at the Southwark
Playhouse, having had to move performances due to
accidentally booking for the captioned performance the day before
which would have involved large proportions of the audience having to
be staring at their phones throughout the show, I had a reasonably
central seat. The tone for the evening was set by a parental advisory publicity postcard that I picked up at the box office. The show
started with all four cast members entering in period costume and
plugging their hand-held microphones into ports in the middle of the
stage. This set the tone, as all items of set were related to
concerts, with all documents being music manuscript paper and flight
cases acting as writing desks. After an opening number that was
slightly too Rock-y for me, there was a good run of songs that I
enjoyed, which were slightly less loud, and so easier to hear the
very clever words.
All four threw
themselves into their roles – Athwal as the ‘Goth’ Emily (with
more than a hint of Kate Bush), Barnes as the pragmatic Charlotte,
Lynch as the initially virginal Anne, and Jacobs Morgan as the
deluded Branwell who got the best jokes. 27 songs (including
reprises) was a little too many, and I would have preferred a little
more dialogue between scenes due to the high standard of the few
instances that we did get. Certainly worth seeing for a new insight
into the Brontës.
Wasted
runs at the Southwark Playhouse from 6th September 2018 to 6th
October 2018.
Favourite Song
I intend to cheat here
and pick one for each Brontë. ‘Infinite Eternity’ for Charlotte,
‘My Soulmate’ for Emily, ‘No-One to Marry for Miles’ for
Anne, and ‘I Am Gonna Be…” for Branwell.
Did I Buy The Cast Recording ?
No, there wasn't one available.
Links
Production Website:
https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show/wasted/
