Mood Music

I'd been really looking forward to this, and while it was reasonably enjoyable, it was - as others have said - dramatically inert for the most part, and probably would have worked better as a radio play.

Ben Chaplin was great as record producer Bernard (did I detect a bit of Mick Jagger drawl in his delivery?), but I was disappointed that Neil Stuke and Pip Carter (two actors I really like) didn't have more to do as a lawyer and psychotherapist respectively. As ever, Steve nailed it in his review above when he said there was too much tell, tell, tell and not enough show, show, show. The scene at the awards ceremony was well done and gave a glimpse of what could have been.

As it was, it didn't feel as if the characters and plot were properly set up at the beginning. There was much too much 'post mortem,' I felt - I wanted more scenes involving Bernard and Cat in the studio or on tour, rather than the few fleeting flashbacks we were treated to. Plus the ending was a bit of a damp squib. Or maybe the way it ended was the point. Also, there wasn't enough music!

I'm a massive fan of music and gigs, so I'm always keen to check out plays (as opposed to musicals) set in that world, but I often seem to come away dissatisfied. Birdland at the Royal Court with Andrew Scott as the rock star (I always felt his character was a little bit Brandon Flowers from the Killers, and a little bit Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode) was a funny fish, I thought - again, very little music - though to be fair, that is a play that has stuck in my memory and is one I think about from time to time. And one I definitely did enjoy was Platinum at Hampstead Downstairs a couple of years back (about a legendary protest singer who has retired from public life).

I'm accompanying a group of students to see this in June, because they will be studying joint authorship in copyright law. I'm hoping it will stimulate some good class discussion. It will also be interesting to see how they respond to it as entertainment. They are law students, and I don't know how many of them are theatre fans.

The spread of opinion here is from 3* (Time Out, ES, Whatsonstage) to 5* (FT), with a cluster in the middle (e.g. Guardian, Stage). Personally I'd say it's worth 3*, and I'm surprised to see it described as electrifying or profound, as it seemed contrived and pretty shallow to me, but with some very good lines and a couple of enjoyable performances.

Agreed N1David, I try to avoid previews as it's too tantalising to wonder if changes were made in previews or the press simply hold another view. For this I saw the final preview; can't imagine the writing changed much, and ear-wigging the audience I wasn't hearing raves, more ho hums.

I feel it's had an easier ride as it's Joe Penhall; and a 'first play' writer would be savaged on grounds of character credibility. That's not necessarily wrong; we listen to people we've respected before, and I was looking forward to this a lot. It felt wrong/hackneyed/stagey from the first few lines - heart sinks. I came home to try and figure out my problem with it, and wrote:

The conception of this felt so far off real life that Act 1 was often embarrassing to watch. Who would this drawling mockney Producer be (in real life), paired with this young Irish singer-songwriter? Mickie Most? Martin Rushent? Brian Eno? They’re all of the distant past music-cred wise. Why would the record company think it would be a good idea, and bring a further sprinkling of quality or cache to her work? They’d either put her with someone young-ish like Mark Ronson, or (if working in LA as reputed) an older cool Black producer, like Nile Rodgers, or a team like Jam & Lewis. Or someone her own age.

Not that dance music seems to be her style; in fact (as with James Blunt on ‘Your Beautiful’) she might more realistically be paired with a co-songwriter to strengthen the work, and then the ownership of the song writing would be clearer from the start; rather than this Producer – Artist relationship.

Ben Chaplin’s character is written more as an ageing rocker than a midas producer. Why would a revered producer go out on the road with his act, on the tour bus? I’ve never heard of this, and the play seems confused. Perhaps it would have been better if it had been about a musical collaboration between two singer songwriter stars.

Everyone’s written as if they’re in a play: Lawyer ‘in a play’, pop star ‘in a play’, therapist ‘in a play’, but none of the writing feels like real life. The few scenes of making music are excruciating – I just didn’t buy them at all - the way music was spoken about, from riffs to chord progressions; and the music they were coming up with felt so ridiculously basic (or was that part of the satirical target ?).

Act 2 is a big improvement, because – on its own synthetic terms – things set up in Act 1 do finally land.

I liked characters walking in and out of each other’s scenes / memories of a shared moment/event – but that’s about it. I’ll stand by for the 4 Star reviews to come in, but I found this a really poor piece of work.

[Ha! Just re-read my prediction at the end.]

It really is such a mild play and production.

Yet the centre stalls were roaring...

I also found this a bit dull, a lot of skirting round what Chaplins character had done that had been so terrible to the 'heroine' without actually going into any details about what had happened (beyond her having been flown over state lines), and a lot of chatter from the supporting cast to no particular end didn't leave me feeling particularly bothered what happened to anyone at the end. I don't blame Ifans for bailing, I'm just glad I only paid £2 to see this. Stalls were about two thirds full, couldn't get a clear view where I was sitting up the upper levels looked pretty empty.

Someone once told me about the three Ps: Press, Practitioners (those in the theatre industry) and Public.  They said that there were plays that were loved by the press and the public but hated by those in the industry or loved by the press and hated by the public (who vote with their feet).  They said that it is very rare for all three to be in agreement.

Isn’t he marvellous when he’s angry?

Ben Chaplin

Really is a awful actor

No facial expressions

The play is a disaster

Desperate

And unengaging

Straight Red Card

Just booked a ticket to see this play. Ticket only cost me £2. I hope that I've not wasted £2 on this show.