Torch Song Trilogy @ Menier Chocolate Factory

The first show I ever saw at the charming Menier Chocolate Factory was La Cage Aux Folles staring Douglas Hodge in 2008. Now Hodge is back with another Harvey Fierstein penned play, only this time Hodge is directing. While La Cage aux Folles is all singing and dancing, Torch Song Trilogy is a much more intimate, semi-autobiographical play, about one man's struggle for love, happiness and acceptance.

As the name suggests, Torch Song Trilogy is made up of three parts, each charting key moments in the life of drag queen Arnold Beckoff (David Bedella). The first, The International Stud, starts with a touching monologue from Arnold about his past loves and future hopes. As he applies his make-up, he lets his guard down in a mixture of self-self-deprecating humour and genuine emotion. We then meet achingly earnest Ed (Joe McFadden) who delivers his chat up line straight to the audience. Arnold thinks him and Ed have a real connection, but the staging from Soutra Gilmour - full of walls and windows - foreshadows the ensuing boundaries between them, as Ed decides to deny his urges and stick to an easier, straight life. Can Arnold learn to live without him? Part two, Fugue in a Nursery, sees Arnold and his new young lover Alan (Tomk Rhys Harries) invited for a weekend in the country chez Ed and his wife Laurel (Laura Pyper). Laurel thinks this is highly sophisticated but of course emotions run high and it can't end well. Hodge reinvented this section by setting it all on a bed, with the four characters, all dressed in white pyjamas, tumbling into different conjugations - a really clever staging idea. The final part, Widows & Children First, is both the funniest and the most moving. Two new characters are introduced - Arnold's old-fashioned Jewish mother who refuses to accept his homosexuality (Sara Kestelman) and 15-year old David (Perry Millward) who Arnold hopes to adopt. While the three generations of Berkhoff's spark off each other, the change in Arnold - who has been through love and loss and grown into a devoted parent gives this final section a real pathos. And then of course there's Ed - after six years of loving each other, can they finally find a future together?

A frequent criticism of this revival of Torch Song Trilogy is that the gay rights issues raised in the play - specifically the idea that one has to remain in the closet to be accepted into society and the assumption that homosexual couples cannot love each other in the same way as heterosexual couples - would have been ground-breaking at its début in 1981 but are now out-of-date. Yes, thankfully, there is more equality these days, but the current polemic surrounding gay marriage and adoption proves the enduring relevance of this play. Moreover, beyond the politics, the personal journey at the heart of the story remains as engaging as ever.

At the heart of this revival of Torch Song Trilogy is David Bedella's stellar central performance. Bedella rose to fame as the Devil in Jerry Springer - The Opera, for which he won the 2004 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. A little of this devilish charisma remains in Arnold's bitchy drag queen personality, but Bedella excels at bringing out the real Arnold, vulnerable and full of love, wanting nothing more than affection and acceptance, yet strong enough to stand by his convictions. Bedella makes Arnold an incredibly sympathetic character, flawed but loveable. Perry Millwald is another highlight - his David is bursting with energy and personality, a real joy. As Ed, Joe McFadden is just so sweet you can't help but route for him even when he's doing something really stupid. With a small frame and huge eyes, Laura Pyper is the embodiment of a fragile young woman, well-meaning but always ending up in a bad situation.

Tom Rhys Harries makes his London stage début as Alan. Alan loves Arnold deeply (although not enough to avoid adultery) but becomes incredibly petulant when his affection seems unequally returned. This portrayal of Alan gets many laughs, but makes it hard to believe that he and Arnold would later become devoted partners who plan to adopt together. When I first received the promotional material for Torch Song Trilogy, I was surprised to see Harries - a familiar face from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. I'd always been a little underwhelmed by him in Cardiff, but assumed he must be doing something right to have landed this role before even graduating. I was intrigued, but I have to say Harries felt like the weak link in the cast. He certainly looks the part - blonde hair, blue eyes, chiselled model look - and has a sweet if not very exciting singing voice, but his accent kept switching from American to British RP and he just didn't seem quite as comfortable in the role as the others. This might be because I'm used to seeing him in the real world, at Central Station or in the RWCMD café with his friends (I'm not a stalker, Cardiff's just a small city!), but I would say it's more that his relative inexperience was highlighted by the calibre of the rest of the cast.

Through almost three hours, Torch Song Trilogy kept me hooked, partly because of the quality of the central performances, but mainly because the multifaceted characters - each endearing but flawed in their own way - are engaging. The play is laced with Fierstein's trademark sharp humour, which made me laugh out loud throughout, but left me feeling deeply moved. Highly recommended.

Torch Song Trilogy runs at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, until 12 August 2012. Tickets are available here.

Pippin @ Menier Chocolate Factory

The Menier Chocolate Factory's bold new reimagining of Pippin is unlike any production you've seen before. While Stephen Schwartz's musical has often been written off as childish - largely because The Jackson 5 covered one of the main songs, Corner of the Sky - director Mitch Sebastian restores the dark,  sensuous, adult quality of the original whilst creating a Pippin which is decidedly 21st Century.

Pippin is the son of the great Charlemagne, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. A prodigious scholar, the future emperor is looking for fulfilment everywhere from war and politics to art, religion, sex and love. Except it's more complicated than that, because all the characters are 'players'. In the original, this meant a group of travelling players wandering through the woods, but in 2012 what could they be but video gamers? The decision to update the story to the world of video games (and internet porn pop-ups!) works so well it's hard to imagine the story any other way.

Video projections and musicals haven't always been the easiest bed fellows (remember The Woman in White?) but they are one of the main attractions to this production, sucking the audience straight into a virtual world of computer games, Skype sex and Twitter revolutions. While some older members of the audience unfamiliar with the gaming world found this quite overwhelming, I thought it was just perfect for the story and added a whole new layer to the show, a sharp commentary on the pervasiveness of technology in our modern lives. It also allows for some truly spectacular staging but I don't want to say too much and ruin the surprise!

Of course, no matter how impressive the projections are, a musical can't survive on its staging alone. Luckily, the Menier is famed for the quality of its casts, perhaps because in such a small theatre the tiniest of faults is magnified so everyone has to be flawless. The cast of Pippin is no exception.

I was first attracted to Pippin after hearing that Matt Rawle would be the Leading Player. Having been captivated by his Che, Zorro and Martin Guerre (the latter only on video sadly as I was far too young for the original production), I knew I was in for a treat. Matt brought all the charm that seduced Anne Robinson to a captivatingly malevolent Leading Player. I found it hard to keep my eyes off him.

However, the real revelation for me was Harry Hepple as Pippin. He combined a beautiful voice with an innocence and naivety that perfectly suited the character. I loved the fact that Hepple, as well as Ian Kelsey as Charlemagne, kept their northern accents, it really added to the idea that these are real people playing a video game. Similarly Frances Ruffelle's Essex giggle and inherent naughtiness worked perfectly as the scheming stepmother Fastrada. Carly Baldwin (below with Hepple) brilliantly juxtaposed the character of Catherine with the real life 'player' and again has a delightful voice. On top of all that, the new production recreates to stunning effect parts of the original Fosse choreography (that seem to have become more famous than the songs), which lends the production an even more surreal, virulent quality, especially when performed by the very unnerving, unhinged half-brother Lewis (David Page). 

In short, both the performances and the production of Pippin blew me away and I recommend you go and see it while you can.

Photos: Tristam Kenton @ Broadwayworld.com