'Once On This Island' at Southwark Playhouse

The latest show at Southwark Playhouse is 'Once On This Island' by the British Theatre Academy. It's all about young actors starting out and that, in itself, is an interesting thing - will any of them still be working in ten years time? There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the show but not always a lot of skill. It's a strange show to put on, not a well known show by any means and a calypso musical is a bit unusual but hey, why not?

It's an odd story that mixes traditional Caribbean island beliefs and gods with modern day French imperialism with the rich white folks on one side of the island and the black "peasants" on the other side, But then there comes a storm to mix it all up. The local gods intervene to save a child who later goes on to save the life of a rich white man and she is then challenged by the god of death to either offer up her life or his? I won't spoil it by revealing what the decision is.

It was interesting enough and quite different and, at only 85 minutes running time there's no time to get bored. I think it's an odd show for an mature/student company to put on. There's no denying the energy of the actors but sometimes it seemed like they were singing simply to be loud without remembering their diction so I couldn't make out the words - all there was was a loud noise. The very energetic dances also seemed to take its toll on a few of the actors who were clearly out of breath and sweating at the end of the later numbers. I only want to see exhausted actors when they're acting exhausted, not when they are exhausted. One who really caught my attention was Chrissie Bhima who played the lead role of Ti Moune and she is definitely worth watching for. At one point her singing voice reminded me of Linda Lewis, not so much Linda's range as the warm tone and quality. I also liked Aviva Tulley as the goddess of love.

There you have it, my first encounter with the British Theatre Academy. The actors all seemed to be having a great time and that's part of it - it they're enjoying what they do then that's half the battle. Well done people!

'Blues in the Night' at the Kiln Theatre, Kilburn

Last week we went to see 'Blues In The Night' at The Kiln theatre in Kilburn (formerly the Tricycle Theatre, a much better name). It's not one of my regular haunts but I wanted to see Sharon D Clarke in her latest role as a blues singer in a boarding hotel back in the day with a score made up of classic blues songs from the canon. It's a sort of review show with songs by different people pulled together and worked on to tell the stories of three women and one man who seems to have something to do with each of them. But what?

The play is set in a boarding hotel and the stage is et with three separate rooms with a bar where the band play. The rooms are on risers around the stage and we meet an old blues singer, a woman of the world down on her luck and a young girl disappointed in love. The four-piece band play in the bar with a compere who visits the women at different times and for different reasons, maybe to seduce one or to deliver heroine to another. They each sing songs that illustrate their position and are surrounded by things in their rooms that show their position - the blues singer is waiting to make it big again, the women surrounded by furs that she gradually sells for drugs and the young lady by her one good frock. And the man? Well, he's the one with the drugs.

I quite like this kind of show since you're not constrained by the book or plot, the songs tell you enough to build your own picture of who these characters are and make up their back stories. I do that anyway. The old blues singer has seen it all over the years and is straight forward and the mother of the place, the young lady has clearly had a failed love affair but what about the worldly women with her furs? She was someone's mistress clearly, but what happened for her to end up in this low rent hotel and selling her furs for the next fix? I think she's the one who's back story I wanted to explore most.

The four main characters all have about the same time to shine and sing but the whole thing was dominated by Sharon D Clarke's presence - which is fine by me. Clive Rowe played the man, Debbie Kurup the lady and Gemma Sutton the young girl and they all shined at different times but it must've been a bit daunting to share the stage with Ms Clarke. She was on blistering form.

It would be good if the show transferred into the West End, that would probably galvanise the rest of the cast to up their game a bit to try to challenge Ms Clarke (and I don't think she'd mind in the slightest). I'd certainly go to see it again.

'Violet' at Charing Cross Theatre

It's been a good year for Jeanine Tesori who wrote 'Violet' which is on at Charing Cross Theatre while another of her shows, 'Caroline, or Change' is playing down the road at the Playhouse and just six months after another of her shows, 'Fun Home' was on at the Young Vic. It's clearly her time in London.

'Violet' is based on 'The Ugliest Pilgrim' by Doris Betts, a short story telling the tale of a young woman who travels by bus across America to get a prominent scar on her face magically repaired by a charismatic preacher. It's set in 1964 with the racism of the time and on her bus journey we meet several of her fellow passengers including two soldiers, on black and one white, who she develops relationships with. There are flashbacks to her as a young girl with her father and we find out that he gave her the scar in an accident with his axe. We follow Violet's adventures as she travels across country until she reaches the preacher but can he heal her? And what actually needs to be healed?

I quite liked the structure of the work, a bit picaresque moving from one set scene to another courtesy of the motif of the bus and the journey. What didn't work terribly well was the character of Violet, the heroine who should be sympathetic but I found her a bit too militant, too sure of what was she was doing and what the outcome would be - a bit of self-doubt would have helped a lot, I think.

Kaisa Hammarlund was good, if a little bit turbo-charged, as Violet, with an excellent voice and she delivered the songs really well, especially her quiet song to her soldier lover as he falls asleep after their first night together. I also liked Jay Marsh as the soldier who falls in love with Violet but, sadly, isn't the soldier she sleeps with.

I think my main problem with the show is that I couldn't remember any of the songs, even while walking to the tube station. They sort of oddly work while watching the show but aren't sufficiently memorable. A musical ought to have a few songs you go home humming. I wasn't humming anything.