theatre – Page 3 – A SPURDLE reviews

Water for Elephants Musical

Now for my third review of this Broadway trip and my first matinee after starting this review site. Which means that it is a two show day for my last whole day in New York. The first show is “Water for elephants the musical” which is currently playing at the Imperial theatre. Which opened on 21st March 2024 and is set to close its broadway run on 8th December 2024 before embarking on a US tour.

This show is based on the 2006 Novel by Sara Green which again I have not read or even aware of the story, so once again entered the theatre for the 13:00 start and took my seat in Orchestra Row L seat 104 not knowing anything about the story. This musical production has music and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co and a has a running time of 2 hours and forty minutes.

The show starts within a modern day circus and Mr Jankowski (Christopher Russo) who begins to regale the current circus workers the story’s of his past. We are then transported back to 1930s where a young Mr Jankowski, Jacob Jankowski (Kyle Selig) jumps on a train out of town. Without being aware that it is a circus train of the famous Benzini circus. After some convincing Jacob gets to stay a night so he can head out of town. It quickly transpires that Jacob is a nearly fully qualified vet after having to miss the final exams due to his vet father and mother dying in car crash. The circus ring leader and boss August (Paul Alexander Nolan) persuades Jacob to join the circus as their vet to look after the vast array of animals that made up the 1930s circus show. Jacob meets the circus leaders star of the show and wife Marlena (Isabelle McCalla) and her horse. Shortly after due to the poor work conditions the horse has to be put down by Jacob. This results in August having to find a new star of the show and buys the first available animal which happens to be an elephant named Rosie. While attempting to train Rosie, Jacob and Marlena start to fall in love. The first act concludes with the realisation that Rosie can perform when spoken to in Polish. A grand reveal of the whole elephant concludes the first act.

The second act involves a successes story of the new star act with Rosie. Jacob is treated to lavish parties with August and Marlena. Even though he has a new star act August continues to mistreat both Rosie and Marlena. Both Marlena and Jacob grow closer while Jacob tries to break it off for the sake of the whole circus. This is unsuccessful and August finds out about the affair and demands his right hand man Wade (Wade McCollum) to get rid of Jacob and his friends Walter the clown (Michael Mendez) and Cam (Stan Brown). Both of these were the reason Jacob was accepted on the circus train in the first place. As Jacob is with Marlena off the train, Wade continues to get rid off (Kill) Walter and Cam. The show crescendos with a large stampede of all the animals believed to have been caused by Wade due to the guilt. This stampede goes down as the greatest circus disaster of all time and destroys and kills everyone apart from Jacob, Marlena and Rosie. Who in the aftermath continue to live together for the 50 years before Marlena dies. We then rejoin at modern time in which Mr Jankowski is offered to join the new circus show and get out of his nursing home and join the circus again.

Left: Alternative cover Right: Modern Playbill cover

Now for the theatre review part.

First of all the set and props, which were surprisingly lacking for a broadway show. There was very little set design as a whole providing a very basic staging. However this show was not relying on the staging to give impact. This type of staging means that this production is very well suited to a tour production as mentioned at the start this is the next stage of this production life. This means that the touring audience will not actually miss out on any of the staging from the Broadway production. The main set/props are two scaffolding towers which are used to replicate the train. This is done very effectively due to the actors movement and lighting.

Lighting is a huge part of this production and is used instead of set design to set the scenes. As well as stage lighting, the use of shadows are very impressively used throughout this production. Not only in order to set scenes but also to portray the animals and scales very effectively.

The use of puppetry throughout this whole production is brilliant. Due to the vast amount of animals needed for the circus a few are portrayed by actors in suits but the rest are all puppets controlled by the actors. The use of these puppets for me rivals War horse and Lion King. Camel’s dog which is handled and controlled by a number of the cast is very impressive along with the other animals that make up the circus crew. However the stand out has to be Rosie the elephant herself. Who for most of the first half was only portrayed by a trunk or a leg here and there had its grand reveal at the end of act one. This reveal reminded me of the King Kong musical reveal which causes the American broadway audience to have an audible reaction. In this case of large cheers and applause. Very much like war horse you forget that Rosie is in fact a puppet and start treating her like a part of the cast as you start to feel compassion for her.

Not only is the puppetry amazing the use of physical theatre and especially acrobatics and circus style performers were breath taking. Instead of the ensemble having normal dance breaks and or supporting the songs and main characters. For most parts of the production the ensemble who I am going to call he circus performers from now on. These circus performers were the main characters and the main point of interest for the show. I really like how it replaced dance routines with circus/acrobatic routines. Unlike cirque du soleil which I have seen their Broadway show Paramour amany years ago. The routines themselves were not the purpose they symbolised and supported the show and the story. For example the death of the horse in act one is portrayed by an amazing aerial acrobatic routine performed by Nick Zelle. The whole production relied on physical theatre in which even the title principal performers of Isabelle and Kyle had to partipate in as well as perform brilliantly vocally. I can only imagine of the extra training they had to undertake in order to complete this successfully.

Before I move onto the music and lyrics and then the performers. I have to touch on some of the amazing transitions that occurred. It was these transitions that moved the show from the 1930s to modern day. They were so obvious but seamless at the same time. With either a simple light transition. Or one transition which consisted of Paul Alexander Nolan physically transitioning between August and the modern day character of Charlie by literally stepping out of the ring master costume while leaving it floating in the middle of the stage being supported by the rest of the cast.

Now for the music and lyrics and musical part of the musical theatre. For me this was not a major part of the production and unlike normal musical theatre shows, the show was not relying on the songs to progress the story, instead to just accompany it. This becomes more obvious when you look at the cast recording which is available on all major platforms. As it only has 19 songs around an hour of content for a two hour and forty minute show. I personally don’t think this impacted the production as it was relying more on the physical theatre than the songs. However I was a little disappointed as I expected a broadway musical. But it did not distract from the show at all. Having said that there were some stand out songs and musical performers. One came from Wade and his a capella country esc accompany in songs such as The road Dont make you you young. Even though it was not as in keeping with the rest of the show, i really did enjoy it. My favourite track has to be Isabelle singing “What do you do”.

One of my favourite songs of the show

Overall this was a great Broadway show not necessarily the best Musical theatre show I have seen. But the physical theatre and acrobat performances make it a great show and I recommend seeing if you can on tour or if we are luckily enough for it to come to the UK. I expect not initially West End but possible a touring production.

I give this production 3 out of 5 stars. A great story with amazing physical theatre and acrobatics with a bit of musical theatre thrown in. Not a standard broadway musical but still worth a watch.

Further information of “Water for Elephants” can be found on their website.

Job on broadway

Here is my first broadway review on this site. If you have read my About me page you will be aware that a New York and broadway visit is a bi annual trip for me. Within hours of touching down in JFK and arriving at my hotel in Time Square I was making my way to The Hayes Theater which was around the corner from my hotel.

The first production of this trip was a play. The other three productions scheduled for the rest of the weekend are all new musicals. The play in question is “Job”. Which opened on Broadway on 15th July 2024 after a lot of off broadway success, The production is on a limited run and as a result closes on 27th October 2024. The show is written by Max Wolf Friedlich and stars Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon more on them later. Once again like many plays on the West End and Broadway this was a straight though play with no interval and a total running time of 80 minutes. As mentioned in previous reviews I am a big fan of this format especially for a production as intense as this. However having a 19:00 start time (Well 19:10, if you know you know. Anyone who has seen a Broadway show will be aware). It did mean thatI was back at my hotel bar writing this review well before 21:00.

After receiving my Playbill from the always enthusiastic usher I took my seat in the orchestra Row E Seat 111. A brief note on the playbill itself. When initially handed it I was somewhat surprise by the strange cover sheet as it differed from the norm that I have seen in the past. On closer inspection I discovered that Playbill are celebrating their 140 year anniversary and as a result had around four or five “alternative” covers. Mine was of a 70s vibe. I was pleased to eventually realise that the current/ modern playbill cover was located on the inside cover. Both version for the playbil cover can be seen below:

Left: Alternative 1970 cover Right: Modern cover

After booking the ticket a matter of hours before, during the very drawn out taxi ride from JFK to Manhattan I was luckily to obtain a single seat ticket in a very good location. This seat only added to the authentic feeling of the production. As soon as the house lights went down you are transported to be a fly on the wall to a therapist session/meeting. With a very dramatic opening scene in which the therapist is being held at gun point by the patient. I am concuios that I don’t want to provide any major spoilers for this show. Apart from the fact there is a twist at the end however I will refrain from providing the details of said twist. Just in case you are lucky enough to see this or any future version of this production.

The show running time of 80 minutes makes much more sense when you release the context of the show and also lends to the authenticity of making you feel you really are observing a real therapy session. This authenticity is also continued by the fact the staging (shown above) does not change throughout the whole production. There is no set changes what so ever. At most the chairs are moved from their original spots. Again showing what i imagine a happens in a real theory session. The set design as you can see from above is simple however very effective, I especially liked the floating ceiling mould to depict the top of the room and almost frame the whole stage.

Throughout the 80 minutes we are drip fed information about not only the patient Jane but the therapist Loyd. By the end we discover that Jane works for a big tech company and is the “first line of defence” for online filtering. The audience are given a small insight into the way the internet and social media is filtered mainly by bots. But when the algorithm is unable to come to a conclusion a human has to watch and review the content to make a final call. We learn through quite graphic description the kind of things that Jane not only has been exposed to but is expected to experience on a daily basis to produce the first line of defence. She sees it so the general public don’t. We also learn that Jane has more recently taken on confronting some of the contents creators in a vigilante esc campaigns. As the audience is slowly feed Jane’s background and experience we expectedly assume this is why she is in this therapy session because of her JOB. The big tech company who is imposing a therapist sign off for her return to office after she suffered a viral breakdown. We learn a little but crucially enough about Loyd, he is divorced with two young children a young boy and a young daughter who committed sucide at a young age. We later discover why this could have occurred.

Throughout the session/production Jane raises and mentions lots of challenges and issues that face not only her generation (Millennial) but anyone and everyone who is impacted and connected via the internet. This challenges and issues include the expectation that social media put on individuals along with racism and politics views of the class system of not only the country (US) but the world as a whole, as well as abortion. The ability to put this challenges across and develop such an intense building production all within less than 80 minutes is credit to the writer Max Wolf Friedlich. The show especially during the first half has some very well written dark humour which slowly gets turned on its head to become a very dark and intense final ten to fifteen minutes of the show. The audience go from laughs to audible gasps of realisation within the final few scenes of the show. Again I do not want to provide any spoilers but I really was on the edge of my seat for the last ten minutes. Which brings me nicely onto the ending.

The ending is left up to the audience interpretation and I can not give opinion of which way it would go without spoiling it. In one hand I like the opening ended/ open to interpretation ending as it means each audience member potentially has a different conclusion to one another. However on the other hand not having a black and white clear conclusion does make me feel like we are robed of a truly dramatic finish. Maybe the unknown is more impactful, it defenelty made me think on my short walk back to by hotel.

There is one aspect of the production I have to touch on and this is the lighting. Even though the set does not change the lighting for the most part is the same however it along with sound effects are brilliantly used to symbolise Jane’s panics attacks which occur multiple times throughout the session. The use of total blackouts outs and square light blocks on the back stage wall with load sound thuds. Transform you from the fly on the wall of the theorist office to inside Jane’s mind and the pure panic and confusion that is happening in her head during the session. The stark contrast between the office lighting and the dark thoughts in Jane’s head are really effective with the first transisation being a true jump scare for the audience.

Before I conclude the review I have to touch on and mention the two main and only members of the cast. The fact that it is only two actors on stage together from start to finish and able to create such a rollercoaster of emotions without fancy set changes or other cast members is a credit in itself. First Loyd is portrayed by Peter Friedman of Succession fame as well as lots of other stage and screen productions. He has the ability to instantly convince the audience he is a theorist but maybe with a difference. I had no doubt in the way he portrayed himself throughout the encounter with Jane that this was a theorist from his mannerisms to the amazing script. It all added to the authenticity of the production. This played perfectly opposite Sydney Lemmon who was playing the role of Jane. We easily get drawn into the trauma that Jane has and really feel compassion for her even though the opening scene is her holding her therapist at gun point. The ability of Sydney who no surprise orginaited this role to be able to take the audience on this rollercoaster thoughout the script is a credit to her.

Overall I give this production 4 out of 5 stars. You become a fly on the wall of the most dramatic therapist session you will ever experience. From laughs to audible gasps of realisation. A extremely well written 80 minute play that brings you on a roller coaster where you get to choose the conclusion.

You can check out “Job” on their website which includes all their socials

“Cake: The Marie Antoinette playlist” review

My next review and my first musical review for this site and comes in the form of “Cake: The Marie Antoinette playlist” currently (only just) playing only just at “The Other Palace”. I say only just as unfortunately this production which was originally scheduled to finish on the 10th November 2024. Is now having to close early on the 29th September. As a result it means there will no longer be an opening (Press) night. Only opening on the 13th September means this was an extremely unexpected short run and I was so glad I managed to catch it while I could.

Playing at “The other palace” which has been a great fringe theatre space especially for musicals ever since its “St James Theatre” days under ALW (Andrew Lloyd Webber) where I have seen many productions including “The last five years”. Now under Bill Kenwright company they have not stopped this tradition of showcasing emerging musical theatre.

I have to be honest I am no history buff and have very limited knowledge of Marie Antoinette and the stories that surrounded her. The only thing I did know going into this production was that Zizi Strallen was in a title role. As a musical theatre fan I had to take this opportunity to see the 2020 Olivier award nominated performer in person. Achieving this nomination for her stand out role in Mary Poppins this was a very different role all together.

The show is scheduled for 1 hour and forty five minutes with no interval. A format which is becoming more and more popular within the west end and especially within new musicals. It is a format a personally enjoy as I believe it keeps the audience engaged and forces the story to be more punchy and condensed which fits the newer musical concepts very well.

I took my seat in row F seat 13 within the other palace auditorium. Every time I step inside this main auditorium I also forgot has intimate the space is and even a side seat on the last row will still have an amazing view. The seating chart is always very misleading however I can guarantee you can book any seat with confidence that the view and experience is the same as every other seat. Within my seat I was only a few rows back and centrally located which gave a perfect central view of the whole production.

It wasn’t until fifteen minutes after the scheduled “curtain up” that the action got underway. Around ten minutes after the originally start time we had a house announcement apologising for the delay and for us to remain in our seats. It was at this point that I was concerned that this may be my first show that got cancelled on the night. However I am pleased to say this was not the case at the show did indeed commence. After seeing multiple broadway productions having a ten to fifteen minute delay was not unusual.

As this is a musical production I am going to approach my review slightly differently by proving a more condensed synopsis before then going into the details of the musical production and its performers.

The show is based around the four step plan of our narrator Jeanne (portrayed by Renèe Lamb) to get the money back the money her family had in her eyes taken away from them. The backdrop is Paris in 1783 on the midst of the revolution. The show progresses through these four stages as Jeanne successfully completes each one. First getting into the palace to see the queen. Which is made successful with the help of the much corrupt and in love cardinal (played by Travis Ross). Once in the palace it is time to befriend the queen Marie Antoinette and obtain one of her dresses. Which after a rather comical toilet scene is successfully. The next stage is to use the dress to convince the cardinal to give his beloved queen a large sum of cash to use as a deposit on a very expensive piece of jewally. This stage is successful this time with the help of Nicole (brought to life by Millie O’Connell, more on her later). With the large cash secured Jeanne has the choice to take it and run or go ahead with the plan and help the revolution. After securing the jewels with the deposit and unable to pay the jewellers the finale of the production is a court scene. In which all the characters are accused and taken down for trial. The fate of each now lays with Jeanne in which she names Marie as her guest partner in crime. In the conclusion Jeanne tells the audience this is “a spark that could change history” and if she has this power then why can’t you as the audience make your mark on history a light the fuse. A really rallying and motivational finale. Which given the target audience of the younger generation such an inspiring way to end the show.

Someone with a bit more history knowledge than mean would be able to assess how this fits in with the tales of history however for me who does not know that detail it was a great 90 minute walk down Paris history during Marie Antoinette reign.

Now to discuss something I do know a bit about the production and performers of this show.

Firstly the set or in this production case the staging. As the set consisted of one two tier podium which moved up and down the stage throughout the production normally manually manipulated by the ensamble cast. This is not unusual for production on the size of stage that is the other palace. Many scenes were set by using largest of three screensof in which was located at the back of the stage provided a backdrop throughout. The other two screens were located on stage left and stage right. The moving podium allowed the cast to become physically elevated during parts of the production. Each scene was set by reling on the song accomping it to set the scene. The lighting was used to add to the dance/ modern feel to the whole production with lots of strobe lighting to get the audience in the “rave” esc environment. Due to the limited size of the stage at the Other Palace the band which perched in the rafters at the top of the stage. With only the drummer, keys player and musical director visible. However having this limited playing space did not limit their performance which was able to also add to the overal modern party like environment the songs lent to.

There were no costume changes throughout the show apart from the odd detachable skirt here and there however with the fast pace and limited staging the lack of costume change did not have any negative impact. As it allowed a lot of the characters to remain on stage or only off for very shirt periods keeping the pace and intensity very high.

Now for the two main characters and to start with the (to me) surprise main character of Jeanne as mentioned before performed by Renèe Lamb. With the title of the show being called Marie Antoinette you would forgive me to be surprised when Renèe opens the show to tell us it is her story and continues to side bar with audience throughout. I have not seen Renèe in any other productions before however she was brilliantly casted for this role. When looking at her previous shows and roles it should not be a surprise the casting was so good for this production. With the credentials of originating Cathrine of Argon in Six and shows such as “Be more Chill”. The sass and power that Renèe had not only in the acting but the very large about of spoken word and dab that occurs throughout this production was brilliant.

As mentioned the title character Marie Antoinette was performed by the award nominated Zizi Strallen who was able to prove her musical theatre diversity by absolutely smashing this role. Really in capturing this quirky queen character this production interprets Marie. Zizi vocals were as expected spot on as wishes was really able to bring this show closer to more traditional musical theatre with my favourite song of the whole “Champagne Dreams”. I was so pleased I could see perform this song live. If you take anything away from this review it is you should listen to that one song. Having said that I do encourage you to listen to the whole cast recording which has been released and can be found on all normal music platforms. I have to admit the days following seeing this show I have had “Two birds One stone” and Champagne nights” on constant repeat. Both songs seems to summarise the style of this show in around 7 minutes.

It was no surprise to me when I learnt that both Renèe and Zizi originated these roles in the short Lyric run. I can see why they were reprising them as I couldn’t think of anyone better to perform these characters.

One other cast member I have to give a mention to is Millie O’Connell. Someone who I wasn’t aware was in the show but was very pleased to see appear as Nicole. Mollie has been on my radar ever since her Anne Boleyn days in “Six”. For me her role in Soho Cinders (2019) at “Charing Cross theatre” performing “Wishing for the normal” is an absolute Morden musical theatre standout. Once again Millie did not disappoint even though not having a title role the entry she brought to the stage and during her solo song of “Turn the lights down low” was brilliant.

Now to conclude with the music and songs themselves. As hinted during this review the songs and general vibe is not traditional musical theatre. As it mainly revolves around a lot of spoken word and rap style. Not normally my preferred genes. However as a whole package of the show within a few songs I adopted and by the end it become the norm for the show. However I was very pleased to get some light relief during some of the more traditional songs like “Chanpnge nights” which as mentioned was amazing and for me more traditional musical theatre.

Overall I personally give this show 3 out of 5 stars.

It’s a mix of Six and Hamilton with an essence of more traditional musical theatre. Which for me was ok but the standout performers really made it for me along with the high energy and feel good motivational ending. I believe it was unable to stick with the general London ticket buying audience because of the general Gen Z target audience. I think even myself aged early 30s was far too old for the show in general. And as I’m on the younger side of the London theatre ticket buying audience I fear this maybe the cause of the early close. I liked the intention of making a more musical theatre Six type of production however at some points feel it did loose its way and wasn’t quite sure what direction it was going in. But overall not a wasted theatre trip and I have a new cast recording to loop on repeat.

The fuse was officially light however in my eyes being extinguished far too early.

The Grapes of Wrath review

How apt that the first review on my new theatre review blogging site is at the NT. If you have read the “About me” page on this site you will know that the national theatre is very special to me for many reasons and why I’m a young ambassador Pateron.

I watched “The grapes of wrath” on the 9th September 2024 at the Lyttelton theatre within the National Theatre on London South Bank. I was sat in row O seat 22 within the stalls. So a pretty central part of the stalls of this great venue.

The show had a scheduled start of 19:00 and at two hours and fifty minutes long the adjusted start time was greatly appreciated for the commute home. This is part of the new initiative the NT has started trialing with earlier starts. I was surprised to see that everyone was successfully in their seats by 19:00 and the show promptly started around five past with no latecomers within the stall seating area. I think the jury is still out on this early start time, however it is a thumbs up from me. Even if it does reduce the time in the foyle room (Pateron only members bar) at the NT.

Before I start talking about the show in detail, which will contain some level of spoilers. The show is a Frank Galati adaption of John Steinbeck 1939 novel directed by Carrie Cracknell.

Now for the show itself, like all shows especially at the NT I booked it not knowing anything about it apart from some of the cast members, I was not aware of the orginal 1939 Steinbeck novel. The show opens to some classic NT staging and “wind acting”…. Some of the cast caught in an atrocious storm which really did look like the stage was being blown sideways. This depicted the storms raging and ruining the crops of the south and Midwest of the early 1930’s when this play is set. It moves onto the introduction of Tom Joad portrayed by Harry Treadaway who for me was the star of the very large and talented cast. We quickly learn that Tom is returning home from prison in which he has served 4 years. After a reintroduction to the local ex-preacher we are quickly introduced to the rest of the family which consist of 11 other members. Made up of a vast array of characters including grandpa (a personal favourite character of mine during the first act) and the mum being portrayed by the very talented and multiple award winning (Tony and Emmy) Cherry Jones. A particular character who I didn’t feel had the opportunity to really show Cherry Jones ability, as she quickly faded into just one of the 12 family members.

With the help of the on stage “Band” made up of a guitarist , violin/fiddle, steel guitar and the lead vocalist, singer song writer Maimuna Memon we are moved from scene to scene. This band not only provided a great replacement of a background sound track for each scene change. The lead singer of Maimuna was brilliant. So brilliant the NT have released a prerecord of one of the songs. You can listen to it here to get an idea of where I am coming from:

“Are we people” written and performed by Maimuna Memon

At many points throughout the show especially in the second half this band was able to provide the atmosphere needed to really take you to the time and place. For me music can add this third dimension that really brings something else to the table. It initially gave me a one man two guvnors vibe as having a live band providing the interlude is not a common practice within current plays and being in the NT with this style brought back one man two guvnors memories. With the great band used there who I had the privilege of hearing and meeting at the NT summer party back in 2019.

The first act charts the ups and downs of the 2000 plus mile journey from the family home to California to the east where the promise of jobs and money were on the horizon. The whole journey is depicted within many scenes though out the first act all centrally based around the one car in which all 13 members are travelling within. A very restricted set with the use of props, the main one being the full size car which was able to be manovoured about the stage with the brilliant use of lighting to really make the audience feel they were on the journey with them. The toughness of the journey being shown within the loss of characters who were dying due to the conditions. During this first act we get exposed to the amazing staging which takes the whole production from a very good touring production to a real National Theatre deserving production. Suddenly graves were being created with certain areas of the stage disappearing to show the actors waist deep in the “grave”. Not only this, a “real river” well a trench within the centre of the stage with real water up to the actors chest appeared. Again providing the real illusion without the need for very grand sets of you being by the river bank with the family. The use of real fire during fire side conversations also continued to add to this authentic feel which was being created, most of the time on a fairly bland and empty stage. At one point the rain curtain along the front of the stage resulted in no need for sound effects, the audience could just empraise the waterfall cascading at the front of the Lyttelton stage. Along with this and the amazing lighting design the lack of set really did not matter. The use of touches and headlines searching across the audience only added to to this authentic view and experience. Act one ends with the success of the remaining family making it to California.

We quickly learn with the opening of act two that the grass is maybe not greener on the other side. As we are presented with a stage full of tents and the sudden realisation that the jobs promised require no where near the the amount of people who have travelled from all across the south and midwest to furfil them. It was during this campsite scene where you really see the small details that make an NT production stand out from the rest. Including the small non existent bumps in the road of the car during act one to the small about of smoke appearing from a tent fire not even visible by the audience. During a very heated argument with someone who is promising work however seems to be supported by a very corrupt police force. The preacher is removed from the group and the campsite is brought down right in front of the audience eyes. Another amazing detail, instead of using a set piece to move off stage. The cast can be seen dissembling the tents in front of your eyes. Another way to provide the audience with authenticity and emotion that was going through these individuals who had to move camp before it was burnt down. The progression onto the other scenes in which jobs are promised along with a good wage. We quickly learn that there are others outside of the brilliant choreographed fence movement. Again no major set just a very well directed use of large props. It is these others including the preacher from act one who we suddenly discover are attempting to complete a “Stike” in order to increase the limited wages. Reading the NT programme for this production as usual gives you a great insight into this time and the history and politics which was occurring during this time. The show comes to a close with a very emotive conclusion of a miscarried mother attempting to save the life of an adult man who as described by his son is dying of starvation. The delayed applause that occurred within the Lyttelton really did highlight how emotive the final scene was and how the whole play was playing on the audience emotion with its true authenticity. Eventually as expected the auditorium erupted into a well deserved applause.

The show closes at the NT on the 14th September and I don’t believe it has been recorded for NT live so if you haven’t seen it unfortunately you may have missed out. But I hope this review gave you some insight into it.

Overall I give the show 3.5 stars out of 5. A very authentic insightful view of the struggles of the south and Midwest in 1930s. Showing the hope and bond that a family can have. With the NT production value adding that something extra to a John Steinbeck Adaptation.