An ode to London and homage to quirky British ways
One of the great things about theatre-going in our city is that often the location offers the chance to discover new parts, in this case down a side alley past which I regularly cycle, writes Eleanor Thorn.
Bridewell Theatre on Bride Lane, off Fleet Street, is in St Bride’s Foundation, a place that’s also home to a library, printing workshops and a musty basement bar. A “real hidden gem”, states its website: what better for Italian Londoner Gloria Danili’s new play entitled “Mr Moore’s Bizarre Secret Society” and subtitled “The Fairytale of London”? Quite a claim, one might say, but we soon discover why, for this is a delicate interweaving of tales and references to much-loved stories.
Like the gate to the Secret Garden, I pushed the unassuming door and stepped inside; one glance at the illustrated poster (Cristina Pieropan), with its childlike drawing in pink and blue hues, had already made this show irresistible. For others, the off-stage familiar voice of Michael Rosen will be the pull.
The backdrops to scenes feature a mixture of photographs and collages (Sound and Video design, Julian Butler) shown on a screen, a simple staging technique that works to evoke children’s book illustrations and, jumping a few decades on from the Christmas Eve, 1864 of the opening scenes, nods to the era of silent movies and even Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python work.
Much thought has gone into the presentation: the usual instruction to the audience to switch off phones is cleverly embedded into the script and voiced by the Queen (Sarah Finch), off stage, who’ll “have your heads!” in the case of non-compliance. There is also the order to switch ON imaginations. Playwright Gloria Danili is drawing on all her wealth of experience writing and reading children’s books, working on sets and deep-diving into London life (she spent several years in Shad Thames, the stomping ground of Oliver Twist) and much-loved British classics and cultural references. Her sentimentality is well researched.
Elderly Mr Moore (Michael Bertenshaw) is evicted from his cottage. Even his valuable grand piano is seized by the bailiffs. He is destitute and takes the train to London, on which he encounters barrister Vernon Liddell (Derek Jeck, who brilliantly switches into the soft-spoken, almost cuddly librarian Lewis Carroll) and his nephew Leopold (Henry Camp). Young Leopold is appalled by his preposterously pompous uncle’s pontificating and absence of concern for the less fortunate. Mr Moore meets a pirate (Sarah Finch), street sellers (Elena Mackay and Sofia Inforzato/Jemima Pierse Pollen) and urchins in Covent Garden, and follows a stray cat into a secret garden, where he discovers an abandoned tea house AND the diary of the Princess ‘Drina’, the young Queen Victoria, a treasure which is to help him on his way to salvation. A court case (Judge Lord Melmotte is another brilliant character transformation by Sarah Finch) and a tea tournament ensue, the latter overseen by the Queen. “Dreamcatcher” Leopold is very much on side.
So much an ode to London and homage to quirky British ways, we are immersed in a Dickensian world with surreal and magical moments. The show drips with subtle and not-so-subtle Alice in Wonderland, Dr Johnson, David Copperfield, C.S. Lewis morsels, and the attention to detail a delight. For younger audiences, the good-against-evil theme will be a crowd-pleaser. Music-lovers will not leave disappointed (Composition Neil Brand), for music is the “second secret” to happiness, as is the act of opening our hearts. And like all good fairytales, there is a moral.
Southwark, Shad Thames, Rotherhithe get mentions, reason enough to check this accomplished debut out. Charles Dickens (Borough) and St Joseph’s (Rotherhithe) Primary School pupils have been amongst the show’s first audiences. Suitable for young and old.
Bridewell Theatre, Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8EQ until 10th October.
Booking and full details: https://sbf.org.uk/whats-on/view/mr-moores-bizarre-secret-society/
