Skip to main content

Stereophonic review

Stereophonic is an unbelievably well-constructed production, synthesising live music with impassioned acting. Set in the 1970s, it follows the recording studio sessions of a fictional band. Stereophonic has already garnered great acclaim on Broadway (breaking the record for most Tony nominations for a play) and it has now transfered to the West End's Duke of York Theatre. 

The undoubted star of the show is no individual cast member, but rather Will Butler's music, which really transports us into the 70s era. Having listened to the recordings at home beforehand, Stereophonic's music is easily appreciated out of context. Getting to hear it played live by the cast is when it truly comes alive.

For me one of the main draws of the show was Zachary Hart, having seen him in Thomas Ostermeier's The Seagull earlier in the year. He does not disappoint here, initially making a fantastic coke-head drunkard, who then turns into a Gwyneth Paltrow Goop-style clean eating spiritualist. I also really loved Nia Towle's performance, and her dynamic with Hart's character. The comic interplay between the two studio techs (as played by Andrew R Butler and Eli Gelb) is superb. Stereophonic is, in my view, at its best during its forays into comedy, and I sometimes wonder if the darker or more emotional scenes quash the show's energy rather than truly move. 

Stereophonic's lighting I think is an unsung hero, naturally conveying time and drawing attention to certain sections of the stage. The small Noguchi-like paper lamps dotted around act as warm mood-lighting, and this really integrates with the bohemian styled studio setting. 

There is of course no hiding that Stereophonic is a long play, three hours long in fact. But for me personally, the time flew by. If anything you need the length: if you cut down on time, you would be cutting down on awkward silences, slow-brewing tensions, and of course the frustrations that come with recording take after take in the studio. This actively serves the realism and the discomfort Stereophonic is trying to cultivate. If the production were a snappy one-act, it would undermine the character struggles by allowing them to be resolved too easily. 

I do feel that the one thing that holds back Stereophonic is its lack of depth. There are many threads and character arcs, and the themes are slightly ephemeral. That being said, I do not think it was ever the aim to create some ultra-allegorical theme-driven story. 

During the final scene of the play, we get to hear individual elements of one of the songs as they are faded in and out at the mixing desk. This is a rather beautiful moment as we get to hear each musician individually, and what they bring to the table. It also gives us just a moment to sit and ponder, to think about all the scenes that have just unfolded, and to bear in mind the struggles it took to create a beautiful album. 

Stereophonic is a play that more than achieves its goals, and manages to not just push at the boundaries of what theatre can be. It does so in a way that is still highly polished and exceptionally acted. Stereophonic is easily watchable and a thoroughly enjoyable experience. ★★★★☆


 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Not Your Life review

Not Your Life follows Jacob (Yalim Danisman), who returns from war to find that his best-friend (Rian Cash) and his best-friends' wife (Lucy Clifton) have made a life for themselves in the house Jacob used to call home. What entails is an exploration of the jealousies and fractures within the trio, as they bubble to the surface after years of repression.  A story conceived by Yalim Danisman (writer and performer) and Ege Kucucuk (director), Not Your Life is performed at the Etcetera Theatre, a small but formidable pub theatre. The Etcetera is a successful catalyst for developing talent. Spaces like this are increasingly rare (the loss of Vault Festival, for example, still casts a shadow) and it is great to see venues providing a platform for up-and-coming talent. Not Your Life is an intimate and varied portrait of relationships, be it as friends, enemies or lovers. All the unfolding drama is against the backdrop of the residual trauma of warfare and childhood. Not Your Life also se...
Post a Comment
Read more

Giant review

Mark Rosenblatt's Giant is a meticulously devised, and thought provoking play. It follows Roald Dahl - with his publishing team in crisis - as they grapple with the implications of an anti-semitic article he wrote just prior to the release of The Witches. The article in question pertains to Dahl's views on Israel (and its people), which becomes a source of anger for both the general public, and those closest to him. It is in my view, an incredibly intelligent decision to parallel a messy, raw, interpersonal conflict of the past, with a current-day (or rather ongoing) geopolitical one. Rosenblatt manages to convey much of the complexity of the "Israel-Palestine debate" within a slice of life show.   Rosenblatt has managed to craft such a layered depiction of Dahl, even within such a short snapshot of his life. T he formidable John Lithgow brings this vision  to life with his characterisation of Dahl, oscillating between the childlike, the resentful, the passionate, the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tuck! review

An abstracted amalgam of comedy, sex and biological disgust, Tuck! (directed by Lou Bristow-Bell) describes itself as a "boun dary-pushing psycho-dream" play. An apt epithet. On this occasion, Tuck!  takes residence in the Baron's Court Theatre, nestling itself under the black painted brick arches of the pub cellar venue - a suitably unsettling setting.  The cast of Tuck! is exemplary. Of particular note are Jack Heffran and Samantha Begeman, who manage to effortlessly recreate the awkward flirting of a couple - in this scene the dialogue shines too. The comic timing and ability to enthral an audience that the entire cast possesses has to be commended.  The play's disturbing moments include: the description of a group ritualistically sucking the blood out of a used tampon, a woman achieving orgasm through being told by how petite she is, and the question "are you wet?" answered not with words - but by reaching between their legs and discovering copious amo...
Post a Comment
Read more