Review by Clancy Haynes
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Grief is a strange thing. At the heart of it is a devastating event that creates an aching abyss in your heart. It can make you lose the ability to think clearly and cause you to make rash decisions. I have watched friends and family, in the early clutches of grief, do some odd things: paint a whole house brown, run a marathon, do stand up comedy. I have never, however, known anyone to steal someone’s ashes from their parents’ home and embark on a road trip across the British Isles.
This is the premise of GOYA Theatre’s Four Felons and a Funeral, embarking on its Autumn tour this month. Millie ‘kidnaps’ an urn full of the ashes of Charlie, her best friend, wanting to scatter them somewhere meaningful. The meaningful place? A vat full of Guinness they once saw on a tour in Dublin. Along for the ride is her reluctant boyfriend, Simon, her other best fried friend, Wilf, and her ex-girlfriend, Bex. While driving through Wales, waiting overnight for a ferry and experiencing an Irish national holiday, they argue, reminisce and begin to process their grief.
The intimate space of Birmingham Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio is a perfect place to tell this story. A simple set consisting of lights, boxes and rails, becomes a car, pub and ferry café with ease, with all transformations carried out by the cast. It is incredibly impressive how this relatively empty stage can depict the vastness of a busy ferry terminal one minute and the cramped boredom of a car full of people the next. Simple props help to establish each setting clearly, especially a steering wheel, which somehow turns four wooden boxes into a believable Fiat Punto called Lola.
All the cast are fantastic and work well together, really selling the relationships between them. With such a talented cast it is difficult to pick a standout. Robyn Sinclair, as Millie, gives an incredibly believable performance, completely selling the character’s grief over her best friend’s death, as well as the awkwardness of having both her current and past loves in such close proximity. Conor Dumbrell, as Simon, is wonderful as a reluctant participant in the madness around him. Simon’s desire to be accepted by Millie’s friends, his lack of understanding of their lives and his resentment of their view of him, creates a depth to a character that could easily become one dimensional.
Gareth Moriarty as Wilf is a joy from beginning to end. Giving off the energy of a young Rik Mayall (a high compliment in my world), Wilf brings the laughter that can ultimately tame grief. Their discussions with both Simon and Millie around gender identity, reminds us that it shouldn’t ever really be about the huge issues we often see highlighted in mainstream media. It should be about the individual. Their feelings. Their right to not have to explain themselves to other people who ‘need’ to understand. Gareth Moriarty’s ability to shift from the fun, confident Wilf to the exhausted, grief-stricken one is impressive and I was moved.
Bex, as Charlie’s sister and Millie’s ex-girlfriend, is one of the most complex characters in the show. Maddy Maguire’s performance is masterful, and as an original member of the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe cast, it’s clear that she knows this character inside and out. Her heartbreaking rendition of ‘I’m Fine’ hits hard, perfectly encapsulating not being fine but wanting to be, needing to be. As the show plays out and we discover more about her relationship with her brother, her hardness becomes more understandable and relatable, even as it starts to soften.
At only 70 minutes long, this is a short musical. Its length (and lack of interval) establishes a brisk pace that means the audience is always engaged and the action keeps coming. Each scene is necessary and there doesn’t feel like any wasted moments. Simple keyboard accompaniment throughout the show adds to the personal, intimate nature of the story and is an impressive musical performance in a show jam packed full of memorable songs. It starts off strong with an escape song, where characters interject over each other, bringing a comedic urgency that matches the action on stage. Millie and Simon’s argument duet is both painful and sweet as it highlights both the differences and the love between them. One of my favourite songs is Wilf’s solo, celebrating the joys of motorway service stations. Chester Services has never sounded so glamorous.
Four Felons and a Funeral is a great little show with a big heart. Fantastic songs and an enthusiastic and talented cast take you on a journey through grief that is believable and completely relatable. I have never wanted to kidnap a friend’s ashes more.
Four Felons and a Funeral is on at the Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 28th September. Tickets from birminghamhippodrome.com
Photos by Steven O'Gorman
I have never wanted to kidnap a friend’s ashes more. URL