Mention the best known musicals such as The Sound of Music or West Side Story and they have an immediate association of location. In these two cases the Austrian hills and New York City respectively. So how do you solve a problem like Pippin (Charing Cross Theatre). The 1972 musical with music and lyrics by award-winning Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson is a quirky and whimsical affair. It uses the premise of a mysterious performance troupe, led by the Leading Player, to tell the story of the eponymous young Prince in search of meaning and significance. Pippin and his father Charlemagne are characters derived from two real-life individuals of the Middle Ages though the plot is fictional. That existential pseudo-philosophical description gives you an idea of the dilemma.
Being a fictional plot however gives director Steven Dexter free rein and so the medieval becomes the ‘Summer of Love’ of 1967. A time when young and old alike were letting it all hang out and wishing each other peace and love. We could do with one of those right now. As we follow Pippin (Ryan Anderson) on his quest to find passion, fulfilment and meaning driven by extraordinary dreams and aspirations we are introduced to a colourful group of characters that make up the troupe of travelling artistes led by Ian Carlyle’s ebullient and seductive Leading Player. There is a frisson of mutual bewilderment and excitement that is deliciously beguiling.
The adventure and voyage of discovery continues, a mix of the mysterious, magical and portentous, in a kingdom of hippies on David Shields’ wonderfully psychedelic set. The individuals the Prince encounters become ever more far out and crazy. Schwartz’s score hits the spot beautifully though the songs are not particularly memorable. In fact the best numbers belong to the other roles, most memorably Berthe, the prince’s flamboyant and right out there grandmother. When you only have one song to sing you want to make the most of it and Genevieve Nicole does that with a huge dollop of cheekiness and fun. A hippy mama who makes No Time At All her own and in truth it is a shame she has so little material to play with. You could tell the audience wanted more from Berthe.
This is definitely a musical of two parts, even though the original was performed without an interval. The initial silliness where poor Pippin is like a fish out of water with courtesans who think they know better moves to a more macabre Act II where the manipulative Leading Player leads him to a horrible end. Imagine a beginning that has snippets of Danny Kaye’s hilarious The Court Jester, has the feel of the original hippy musical Hair and ends with elements of Faust. The overall experience is intriguing and enjoyable, there is enough here to keep most of the customers satisfied. Dexter deserves great credit for making it physically and emotionally sensual and the talented company create a trip well worth getting high on.
Another trip not to miss out on is the factual rather than fictional shenanigans that continue unabated in the “Westminster Bubble”. Naughty boy Matt (Hancock) has been replaced by sanguine Saj (Sajid Javid) and master of ceremonies Michael (Give) has announced that he and wife Sarah will be separating but there is “no one else involved”. Meanwhile Kier (Starmer) escaped, for now, from entering the last chance saloon when Labour held on to Batley and Spen by 323 votes. A win is a win and Dianne (Abbott) resorted to quoting Churchill in justifying their narrow retaining of the seat. All characters mentioned here are real not fictional. The trip continues. A week is a long time in politics. Roll on next week…