REVIEW: It Is Easy To Be Dead, Trafalgar Studios 2 ✭✭✭✭✭
Lively, animated, emotional, real, Knox takes the writings of Sorley and brings them wondrously to live with a zeal that is astounding.
Lively, animated, emotional, real, Knox takes the writings of Sorley and brings them wondrously to live with a zeal that is astounding.
There is little doubt in my mind that both Michael Ball and Alfie Boe are kings when it comes to their interpretations of this type of material, that being said there is but one word for this album – Majestic!
This is about as perfect a production of Philip Ridley’s scary monodrama – a kind of ‘The Events’, except with loads more jokes, and much less singing – as anyone is going to see in a while.
The entire production is a fascinating interpretation, and completely lives up to its ‘landmark’ hype. In these times of political upheaval, Priestley’s reminder that “we are responsible for each other” is not only timely, but timeless. After a turbulent 2016, An Inspector Calls is a must see.
What we have here is a clear successor to ‘Mamma Mia’, in that the show takes a seminal back-catalogue and lifts from it a mix of tracks to elaborate and decorate a strongly dramatic tale that happens to chime harmoniously with the personality of the musical and lyrical content.
Falling far short of the biting satire of Oh What A Lovely War and Blackadder Goes Forth, the play is an effective tribute to an extraordinary publication, and there are some moving moments that capture the fear and homesickness of the soldiers.
Hopefully, this will be the first of many productions of Side Show here in the UK, although I doubt any will match the talents involved here or the transcendent brilliance of its two incredible leading ladies. Bravo!
Johnson’s writing is complex and masterful, switching frequently and seamlessly between light and shade. The jokes hit the mark and are well timed, whilst many of the exchanges between Richard and Ellie are achingly sad.