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Rock �n� Roll-backed rollercoaster summer-show of love set in the singing sixties.
The 1960s: if you were there you can�t remember them. Nor can you if you weren�t born then either. Though, you might imagine you remember them, there have been that many retro/tribute/nostalgia shows, films etc. What distinguishes Bob Carlton�s piece is that the music carries and comments on the narrative, rather than being the show�s sole point.
Having hitched his rock-compilations to Shakespeare, it�s interesting to see Carlton adapting the method to an original tale. The band takes centre-stage, though Marty and the Matadors transmogrify into The Myth of Sisyphus. Carlton takes his music seriously, but sees through the pretensions of his musician-characters.
There are plentiful period references: Billy Cotton, TV quiz-shows, steady jobs at Ford in Dagenham. Plenty of local references too. Factory worker Bob, his art-student friend Don, Don�s girl-friend Michelle and wild-card Kathleen, variously mooch around the Mocha coffee-shop, dance at the Ilford Palais, smooch in the Romford Odeon and watch football at Upton Park (Arsenal fans be warned: this is serious West Ham territory).
The evening has two dramatic strengths. There�s the hectic crash of devil-may-care and socially orthodox lifestyles. Kathleen represents the first, staying true to it till the end. Bob�s supremely the second and, as James Earl Adair�s older Man, literally lives to tell the tale.
As it moves between 1966 and 1969, the action also distinguishes the sixties as supercharged 1950s and as a decade recreated, separate from the past. The interval separates these two worlds. In costume, sound and body language, Asian influences mix with hallucinogenic drugs to mark out a new youth world, away from the concrete down-to-earthiness of the society where sixties teens started out spreading their wings.
And there�s always the music to enjoy, belted out by this company as to the melody born (sad reflection, one of the best songs, �California Dreaming�, is now commodified as a cinema ad. to sell cars). This is the kind of show the Queen�s cast, members of the theatre ensemble �cut to the chase�� were hired to do � and it shows.
Man: James Earl Adair
Don: Philip Reed
Bob: Simon Jessop
Michelle: Maria Lawson
Kathleen: Emily Gardner
Marty: Jonathan Lockwood
Dancer: Nick Lashbrook
Matador/Tea Lady/Hippie Girl/Usherette/Doctor: Jane Milligan
Matador/PC: Scott Finlay
Matador/WPC: Wendy Parkin
Director: Bob Carlton
Designer: Dinah England
Lighting: Chris Jaeger
Sound: Whizz
Musical Director: Carol Sloman
Choreography: Kraig Thornber
Reviews Gate - 26th May 2004
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