2 STARS: September 10-15. Aliya Al-Hassan fails to be charmed by the new touring production of Salad Days
Mark Senior
Jessica Croll (Jane) and Lewis McBean (Timothy) in SALAD DAYS
Back in 1954, the Old Vic’s artistic director, Denis Carey, gave writers Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds just one month to write a summer show. What they came up with is the fluffy and whimsical musical Salad Days, which was an exercise in absurdist escapism and beguiling simplicity.
The frothy and silly plot follows university friends Timothy and Jane who rebel against their mothers’ careful matrimonial plans and decide to marry each other. They then get a job looking after a piano in a park (as you would). The piano, later named Minnie, is revealed as a magical instrument that compels everyone around it to dance when it is played. When the piano goes missing, Timothy and Jane must find it in, what else, but a flying saucer.
As bizarre as the plot is, there have been some successful revivals, revelling in the innocent escapism and making the most of the upbeat score. However, this production fails to be tongue-in-cheek enough, often feels dull and is not sufficiently sharp as a whole. Pace is a problem and many scenes drag hugely; the scene where Jane’s mother (played gamely by Wendi Peters) is on the phone at her hairdressers is drawn-out and repetitive; the same information could be portrayed in less than half the time.
Much of the comedy is very dated and although the cast do their best with much of the material, many of the jokes are flat and awkward. A particularly excruciating scene with policeman Boot and his Inspector repeatedly mixing up the words ‘offence’ and ‘a fence’ is laboured, overly long and just not funny.
Jessica Croll brings an innocent and confident, although occasionally pitchy, soprano to Jane. Her performance of the simplistic ‘I Sit In the Sun’ is sweet. Timothy was played by understudy Lewis McBean, who had a nice chemistry with Croll and a warm and genial tone to his voice, although he struggled to catch his breath after some of the energetic dance routines.
The company as a whole show energy and enthusiasm. Callum Evans’ Troppo brings some nice acrobatics and sharp dancing to the role. Joanne McShane’s whimsical choreography works best with the company numbers, such as the catchy “Oh Look At Me, I’m Dancing!” and “Out Of Breath”, but generally the dance sections also seem too long.
Mark Senior
The cast of SALAD DAYS
Mike Lees’ design focuses on and around a cute bandstand centre stage, with the able live musicians on either side. A huge plain background works well as a vehicle for the varied lighting shades, but it’s a shame that it is so wrinkled that it looks like an old sheet.
There is a glaring lack of diversity in the cast, with an image of an all-white jolly-hockey sticks English life full of afternoon teas and cut-glass accents. This matches the dated feeling of a production that often feels like an enthusiastic school production.
Salad Days is a show that famously made a seven-year-old Cameron Mackintosh fall in love with the theatre. Unfortunately, this revival may put others off.
Tickets: atgtickets.com
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