Review by Daz Gale
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The tide is turning when it comes to stage adaptations of Charles Dickens’ classics. Rather than another version of A Christmas Carol (which admittedly would be a strange choice in April), National Theatre are treating us to the world premiere adaptation of one of Dickens’ lesser revisited works– the result is an intriguing project boasting an impressive and perhaps surprising creative team, but can London Tide successfully make it out of the river or would it find itself washed up?
Describing itself as a hymn to London and the river that runs through it, London Tide is based on Charles Dickens final completed novel Our Mutual Friend. Set in various parts of the city, it centres on two young women facing an uncertain future. With bodies being pulled from the river, widows who never made it to marriage and men treating women as possessions, it makes for a gloomy watch. It is the appearance of mysterious stranger John Rokesmith and the secrets he keeps that threatens to change the course of their lives, and hopefully bring a bit of light to the darkness prominent in the story.
Adapted by Ben Power, London Tide takes elements from Dickens’ story in an attempt to streamline it into a cohesive stage production, with the increased prominence of London almost making it a character in itself – certainly it has its own voice throughout. Though it suffers from an inconsistent pacing in an overly long production (3 hours 15 minutes), it manages to hold attention throughout, with the quality of the writing never falling below a certain standard. The tone does stay very dark throughout aside from a few comical moments and lines designed to evoke a response from the audience which feels slightly at odds with the over-arching tone. As the truth at the heart of the story comes out, it feels slightly underdeveloped at times, never quite satisfying. That said, the quality of the writing itself is perfectly fine and one of the better elements of the production.
Where London Tide suffers is in its music. I got the sense the show suffered from an identity crisis, never quite knowing what it wanted to be and how it was going to get there. Not a musical but more a play with music, the inclusion of these songs is baffling at times. Written by Ben Power alongside acclaimed award-winning artist PJ Harvey, the songs don’t lend themselves well for theatre. Unable to define themselves with each other, they tend to blur into one, all sounding fairly monotonous and, sadly, dull. The biggest frustration with the music, though, is the fact these songs add nothing to the story, failing to push the narrative along and never fitting in to the story seamlessly, instead feeling extremely shoehorned in. The pacing of these numbers is wildly inconsistent too, at times going for long periods without a song while other moments feature several in quick succession. With numbers named ‘London Song’, ‘London, My Beautiful’, ‘Holloway’ and ‘Deptford Creek’, it is all very samey. I worry if you threatened to push me in the river unless I could sing you one line from any of these songs, I would be a goner. The inclusion of music is the biggest downfall of London Tide, sinking the show when it should have been able to float to the surface.
The sense that the music was almost an afterthought continues with the fact it doesn’t play to the strengths of the cast. While they are talented in their own right, it would be fair to say not all of them are natural singers – this leads to musical numbers being sung without infliction and a lot of missed notes, with Jake Wood’s early number verging on painful to listen to. That does feel unfair on the cast though, as Wood redeemed himself with a menacing and mysterious turn as Gaffer Hexam, very clearly having to navigate a tricky role and production itself. Ami Tredrea and Bella Maclean get better musical moments as Lizzie Hexam and Bella Wilfer respectively, with Tredrea in particular displaying a gorgeous tone to her voice. It is a shame the musical numbers don’t quite utilise their abilities.
The cast lift the differing material, making the most of what they have been given and demonstrating their talents fantastically. While the character itself is underwritten, Jamael Westman gives a fine performance as Eugene Wrayburn with Tom Mothersdale giving a captivating and deliberately confusing performance as the mysterious John Rokesmith. Scott Karim shows promise and plenty of talent as Bradley Headstone, but choices that have been made to his character turns him into a panto villain, at times feeling like he is in a completely different show to the others. Where the writing sometimes struggles to differentiate who the play should be centred around, this allows opportunities for supporting characters to surprisingly dominate – this is most apparent with Ellie-May Sheridan in her scene-stealing and exceptional turn as Jenny Wren, which becomes the standout performance of the piece.
The biggest strength of London Tide is in its staging. Bunny Christie’s dark and sparse stage may seem vast and at risk of getting consumed by the space initially, but it soon reveals itself to be full of tricks, with an inspired use of movement keeping it visually stimulating. Jack Knowles’ lighting design is truly exceptional with the use of a prominent lighting rig that also moves providing an intricate and versatile use of light in a predominantly dark show. The sometimes subtle and sometimes sudden changes of extremities in the lighting is done with such precision, it helps create a truly atmospheric piece, which is matched with Tingying Dong and Christopher Shutt’s sound design. Ian Rickson’s direction is full of interesting choices, apparent from the moment the cast emerge on to the stage in an unexpected way. With moments of brilliance to be found, not every choice lands successfully, but the bold approach of the direction was certainly appreciated.
When London Tide is good, it is really good. However, it is one of the more inconsistent shows I have seen this year and one that frustrates for this reason. The show has huge potential but is currently in the middle of an identity crisis. The great staging, exceptional cast and Dickens’ original work could make a fantastic production, but is hampered by the subpar music distracting and lowering the quality of the piece. Atmosphere is important to the telling of this story but this could effortlessly be delivered through light and sound, with the music adding nothing to the piece. The show still captured my interest throughout, I kept thinking it could have been so much better with a more cohesive approach to the storytelling. Not a complete wash-out but not a show that manages to completely ride the waves either.
London Tide plays at the Lyttlelton Theatre until 22nd June. Tickets from www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
Photos by Marc Brenner