Then: back in 2013 two members of the Spamalot cast looking to fill their backstage time took a creative route out of boredom and wrote the beginnings of Then, Now & Next, writes Katie Kelly.
Anyway, life got busy again and it wasn’t until the next enforced downtime of Covid that the project was revisited and finished.
Now the dream has become reality at the Southwark Playhouse starring Alice Fearn as Alex Shaw, a nearly 40-year-old muddling through life with her dependable partner Peter yet yearning for a lost love.
The USP of this musical is its ordinariness. Alice is a recognisable woman, juggling work, parenting and the ever-present domestic load in a flat which would be recognisable to anyone who has passed through the showrooms of IKEA. A ‘kitchen sink’ musical if you will. Her present partner is a poster boy for the idea that ‘kind is the new sexy’ but he can’t quite measure up to the excitement of a former relationship full of drama, adventure and high jinx in train toilets. A relationship which ended prematurely.
The action switches back and forth between then and now in a deft way which adds energy to proceedings but also hampers the characters from really engaging the emotions. The music is easy to listen to but rather forgettable. There is a tension between comedy and depth throughout in which laughs win.
A couple of scenes are notably poignant: a conversation between Alex and her therapist and another in a graveyard with a widower, which is more successful at helping her to move on and look forward. The final scenes did portray bereavement in a way that clearly resonated with some members of the audience.
However, what started with subtlety was left behind in an over-long final song which would only have been more melodramatic if the cast had held hands in front of a barricade.
Credit to Tori Allen-Martin and Justin Brett for bringing a whole cast of varied characters to life as ‘Man’ and ‘Woman’. It was Tori’s party girl Tara who really stole the show. Justin managed a real range from comic to subtly serious which can’t quite be said of the musical itself.
Then, Now & Next is a diverting night out and with a little more development might really hit the mark and have a ‘next’.
Southwark Playhouse, Borough, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London, SE1 6BD until 29 July 2023
Booking: www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
Ticket prices: previews £16, full price £32.50, concessions £26
