Becoming Nancy - Birmingham Rep

BurlyBeaR can we get a poll please

LOVED this - Such a heart warming show, even though the music doesn't ever quite reach the heights of some of Stiles & Drewe's previous works, there are still some corkers in there.

This sounds great - is there any talk of a transfer?

Well looks like the Birmingham Rep have a hit, by the responses on here!!!! 8 positive reviews against 0 negative. I hope this ends up coming down the M1, which l now looks now when not if, especially with a mega director behind it.

Loved it. The lead guy is a proper triple threat. They’re rare.

Well it’s nice to hear such encouraging reports.
My only concern would be that physically, it looks like quite a big set- so that would really restrict venues it could fit into at the moment.

I saw this last night, and it was very enjoyable. There was a lot to commend - the cast, sets, lighting, pacing and general energy are all great, plus some excellent songs. But unlike others who have commented so far, I definitely had some reservations (a lot of spoilers follow - so please stop reading now if you don’t want to see them!):

- Surprised this hasn’t been said more than it has, but the show’s similarities to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie are really striking. A central male character who is a gay school boy who plans to attend an event in a dress. Mother who is generally supportive. Father who is initially unsupportive. Mother has a liberal supporting female character who encourages the boy to be himself. School bullies object to the dress-wearing. Objection from parents to the dress-wearing. Boy has a female friend who is also marginalised in school for her race/religion, and they bond over their shared experience. Happy ending where detractors are talked around.

All of these aspects are common to both shows, and the parallels are so strong that I’m not sure Nancy needed to be made. What more is it bringing?

- There were also some similarities to Carrie - except instead of using pig’s blood, the bullies turn up to the school dance in balaclavas with bottles they’ve urinated in and spray people to express their dissatisfaction (is that a thing??!!).

- I guess it’s not trying to be subtle, but a lot of the handling of the issues it’s trying to address is heavy-handed, cringeworthy and cliched. Probably best demonstrated with one of the lines used to describe the homophobia and racism, something like: “If you’re bent or black, you’d better watch your back”.

- It’s definitely not for anyone who has a leaning towards gender equality - not sure how appropriate it would be for a boy to be chosen as the female lead in a show which doesn’t really have any other female characters of note. They could’ve played it differently by maybe having a girl initially chosen, who ultimately dropped out. But the “we don’t have any girls good enough for this role, so we’re asking a boy” wasn’t great, I didn’t think. Yes, a girl was chosen to play Bumble - but it’s obviously not the same. Maybe have a girl playing a different major role?

There was also a really odd scene where David’s aunt makes a mournful remark to David’s mum about her own infertility, and David’s mum replies by singing a song ABOUT THE WONDERS OF CARRYING A BABY!! Very strange - the aunt just leaves the room, and the mum keeps singing about how amazing it is to have your own baby.

And then there’s poor Abigail Henson, whose story is never resolved (as far as I could tell) - she was just jilted, and didn’t seem to deserve her own happy ending in the same way the boys did.

- There are some great songs in there. I already knew On the Night Bus, and love it, and there were a couple of other songs I particularly enjoyed. While the rest of the songs were pretty good, they weren’t GREAT - they needed a lift to take them to the next level, and to be really convincing on a musical level.

- The lead is excellent, but is not convincing as a 16 year-old (sorry….)!

I know these comments might make it sound like I didn’t enjoy it, but despite its flaws, I absolutely did - the time flew by, and I’d certainly listen to a number of the songs again. So I’d definitely recommend for an easy and enjoyable trip to the theatre - especially as others who have seen it haven’t in any way had similar reservations.

Also - first time at the Birmingham Rep, and what a fantastic theatre. Comfortable seats, great leg room and a great rake throughout. Other theatres, take note!

In the words of Roger Elizabeth De Bris - Keep it gay!

Is it overtly similar to Jamie?

The dress is because he wants to be Nancy rather than wanting to wear a dress like Jamie does, who wants to be a drag queen.

It's blanket racism in Nancy rather than specific picking on one character in Jamie

Jamie is un supported by his teacher, David is very much supported by his.

Mum fine with Jamie being gay, David's isn't.

Other than being a gay character at school I don't see masses of similarities tbh

Blue/Orange was essentially its usual proscenium layout, except the stage was a square box at a 45 degree angle past the arch, so only the first couple of rows were on angles to wrap around it. Other than that, all the productions I’ve seen there have been a standard proscenium arch with a rake seating.

I listened to the EP tonight to get a flavour of the show and thought it sounded really fun. I really hope this has a longer life once it's Birmingham run is completed.