'Caroline, Or Change' at Hampstead Theatre

'Caroline, Or Change' is a strange show that was put on at Chichester last year with Sharon D Clarke in the lead role and it opened a month ago at Hampstead to a sold out run. It's transferring again the Playhouse in the West End later in the year so a wider audience will have a chance to see it. A strange show? Yes, it has singing washing machines and tumble driers, a trio of lovely singers perform as the radio and a young Jewish boy leaves small change in his pockets for the family servant to find. There's a lot going on in this play. Or, rather, musical.

It's about Caroline, the black maid to the middle class Jewish Gellman family in Louisiana. The mother has recently died and Mr Gellman has re-married to Rose but son Noah can't accept his new 'mother' and treats caroline as the replacement. Rose is also unsure of her role and, as a New Yorker, doesn't know how to react to having a black servant. Race is never far from the surface in this play and Caroline is very old school, keeping her head down and keeping quiet. Rose awkwardly tries to help Caroline by giving her food for her family, which Caroline declines, and then telling her to keep the change that Noah leaves in his pockets to teach him a lesson. Feeling uncomfortable about taking coins from a boy, Caroline eventually agrees and can now buy treats for her own children. Noah is, of course, deliberately leaving change in his trouser pockets for Caroline.

It all changes when Rose's father arrives from New York for a family get together and gives Noah a $20 note. The silly boy accidentally leaves it in his pocket and Caroline takes it as instructed. But it was an accident and Noah wants it back. No, you're not getting it and the confrontation between Caroline and Noah is really quite harrowing with Caroline's whispered words to the boy. Realising what she's done, she can't go back to her employers house and can't speak of it until she's been to church. And then, after a huge climactic, cathartic song, we see her again in the basement of the house doing the washing as usual.

There's a lot going on in this play and one thing I really enjoyed was hearing all the dialogue sung rather than speech followed by a song followed by speech. The thing is virtually all sung. Caroline's realm is the basement of the house, surrounded by a washing machine and dryer with only a radio for company but, in her world, all come to life to sing to her. I initially wondered 'what on earth is going on?' when the washing machine lady emerged, singing in her silver bubble costume and blowing bubbles. I was disappointed later in the play when the cooker didn't seem to have an alter-ego - that's discrimination, that is! I loved the washing machine but my favourite was the radio that took the form of a Sixties girl group slinking around in shiny dresses. That's what radios are really like, of course.

There's a lot of fun and energy in this play as well as the more serious messages. Something I really liked was being introduced to Caroline's children, particularly her eldest daughter who represents the future by not being satisfied with what she's got. She's a follower of Dr King and she wants more out of life and is not afraid to say so. Caroline is the old guard but her daughter is the new generation that wants more. This is really subtly done and very powerful without being over-stated.

The centre of the play is, of course, Caroline. In a short scene we see a young Caroline in love with her sailor husband who treats her badly when he comes home from war and beats her. The first time she takes it but the second time she throws him out and becomes a single parent bringing up her children in a safe household. I want to say there's so much repressed rage in this play but there isn't. Caroline accepts everything handed to her as her lot and that's why it's so refreshing to see her rebel daughter. And then we see her release it all in one magnificent song towards the end, on her way to church, and it is astonishing.

This is a powerhouse of a play that took my breath away. It was lovely to see (and hear) T'Shan Williams who was with Sharon in 'The Life' last year as one the Radio Girls and I was suitably impressed with Abiona Omonua as Caroline's daughter Emmie, the voice of the future and played with such energy. I also liked Me'sha Bryan as the Washing Machine but she needs to practice blowing better bubbles.

The show really focuses on Sharon D Clarke who was magnificent as Caroline. It must be a tiring role since she's on stage for most of the time. She was tense and serious throughout and it was joy to actually see her smile at the bows at the end of the show. I really need to know how she fits her locks under that tiny wig she wears in the show.

The show is transferring to the Playhouse in the West End with Sharon reprising the lead role at the end of the year so I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

'The Life' at Southwark Playhouse

Southwark Playhouse continues its current penchant for putting on musicals that are either little performed or haven't been performed in London before by giving 'This Life' its European premier. This is the latest in a line of shows it's put on over the past couple of years that keeps making us trek over to the unrelenting drabness of Elephant & Castle.

The show is a bit of an oddity really, written in the '90s and set supposedly in the '80s but shrieked '70s at me, with some great tunes but then others that hark back to the song and dance shows of the '50s (particularly the incongruity of the pimp, the stripper and the pornographer linking arms to dance and high kick at the prospect of yet more money). But, the book held it together, telling a tale that kept me engaged and interested and wanting to see what happens next. I didn't guess the ending at all, so well done on that!

It's a tale of pimps and prostitutes, violence and drugs set in seedy New York before it was cleaned up for tourists. We're introduced to a group of prostitutes and various pimps but the main characters are Queenie and Fleetwood, young lovers living on the street to get the money together to move away, and of Sonja and Memphis, an older prostitute and her pimp, all brought together by wannabe hustler Jojo. Sonja is the only one who has any time for Queenie and her lover Fleetwood just uses her to fund his drug habit.

The troupe of prostitutes were actually quite nice folks and the men were unrelenting bastards so it's a bit one-sided but struck me as true having seen all those '70s cop shows based in New York.  Did Fleetwood ever love Queenie or was she always just a meal ticket? Who knows? Does anyone have any real friends in that world where no-one seems to trust anyone once they're out of their sight apart from Sonja and Queenie?  What is clear is that Memphis in his pimp leather coat has no feelings for anyone but himself  and he's a really chilling character. You don't want to mess with Memphis.

There are lots of songs in this show, a song for every couple of minutes of dialogue, and that keeps the pace moving forward. One of the joys is the start of the second half and the Hookers Ball where they all come dressed to the nines in fantastic and glittery frocks, especially when Sonja appears with Memphis and poses, followed by Queenie in her golden shiny frock who takes her place behind Memphis. And then it all goes wrong. But you need to see the show to find out what's gone wrong.

I was very impressed - as ever - by Sharon D Clarke as Sonja, the prostitute who's about had enough of the streets and is tired and feels ill. She utters the only '80s-type words when she comments that she feels ill and maybe it's something new, alluding possibly to HIV and AIDS. She's a convincing matriarch to our little group, been there and done that so many times she's lost count. And what a great voice! Sharon never lets you down. 

The pleasant discovery of the show was T'Shan Williams as Queenie. She only graduated from acting school a couple of years ago so isn't that experienced but was terribly impressive playing the vulnerable Queenie. Plus she has a great voice and duets with Sharon and holds her own. T'Shan is definitely someone worth watching for in future. An actress of power, turning the mood on a word and a great singer. Shame about the strangely shaped wig she was wearing.

Something I'm noticing more and more is that the great female performances I see aren't matched by the male performances. I don't really understand that at all, but it does seem to be a trend at the moment. The lead men aren't really a patch on the women except for Cornell S John as Memphis who is as menacing a villain as you could want. He'd be a good Iago, I think, deeply nasty beneath the surface but can make you believe whatever he wants. Single-minded and focused and he deserves everything he gets. But you need to see the show to find out what that is.

All in all, I loved this show, faults included. It's always nice to see Sharon and it was lovely to discover T'Shan, but the whole show worked for me. I'm tempted to see it again...