REVIEW: La Boheme, King's Head Theatre ✭✭✭

La Boheme

King’s Head Theatre

5th September 2016

3 Stars

Puccini’s La Boheme has inspired many boy-meets-girl stories (not least the hit musical Rent). However, never before has it been transported to modern day East London, the unlikely home of this new adaptation.

The familiar tale starts with Ralph and Mark, two young flatmates who are struggling for money. While working alone, Ralph is interrupted by the arrival of his neighbour Mimi, starving and looking for a lighter. They fall in love, as does Mark with his former partner Musetta. The two couples live together happily until jealousy and addiction threatens to tear them apart.

It is never easy to translate a complex opera into the modern age and the actors certainly gave it a good go.  However, it felt like the play often resorted to the easy jokes, especially in the first half.

It sometimes suffered from ‘Jerry Springer the Opera syndrome’, with topical references and swearing used for cheap laughs, rather than developing meaningful sung dialogue. The second half was stronger for this reason, however still seemed to lack rhythm and flow in the lyrics.

This was a provocative and intimate version, bringing the public up close and personal. There is a lot of audience interaction, which creates a fun environment, although it was a touch overplayed as a device.

The script was brought to life by a highly talented cast. Ralph, played by Matthew Kimble gave a very deep and emotional performance, with a touching and convincing portrayal of his character’s despair.  Thomas Humphreys’ Mark formed a strong double act with Kimble and stood out for his fine baritone voice.

Honey Rouhani’s portrayal of femme fatale Musetta was an excellent piece of physical acting and provided plenty in the way of laughs.  Completing the quartet was Becca Mariott as Mimi, who had a superb soprano voice, although sometimes her diction was less clear than her cast mates.  They were all supported by a excellent two piece band, well led by Panaretos Kyriatzidis.

Last time I went to the King’s Head Theatre I mentioned the stifling temperature and it was little better today. Even on a fairly mild day, it was very hot for the audience (not to mention the poor cast). They will need to address this before next summer as it does detract from an otherwise brilliant venue.

While Adam Spreadbury-Maher’s version of Puccini’s La Boheme is original and beautifully sung, it struggles to capture all the magic of the original. A stronger libretto would transform this from a solid production to a must see.

Photos: Andreas Grieger

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