Imagine This *** TNT
This new musical features not one but two horrific episodes in the history of the Jewish people – but it does so with such banal lyrics that the emotions it intends to rouse are dulled.
Initially, I thought I might have mistakenly wandered into the opening night of Carousel as we are introduced to the Warshowsky family, a troupe of Polish actors enjoying a last carefree evening at the fairground before being herded into the starkly contrasting Warsaw Ghetto. Later, there’s a hint of The Sound of Music as they perform what is intended to be an inspirational musical for their fellow internees on the eve of transportation, in 1942, to the extermination camp of Treblinka. And, with his jokey addresses to the audience, Peter Polycarpou’s impressive and resolutely dignified Daniel invokes memories of Fiddler on the Roof.
There’s one intensely moving sequence (the slow-motion mass suicide of the Jewish community atop Masada in 70 AD, which forms part of the play within a play structure), and cruel killings emphasise the callous brutality of both the Nazi regime and of the Romans centuries earlier.
But although the actors sing their hearts out (beautifully, defiantly), clunky choreography and a parallel pair of uninspiring love stories only serve to emphasise how much this Holocaust musical relies on imitating the style of a host of other familiar (and better) West End successes.
This new musical features not one but two horrific episodes in the history of the Jewish people – but it does so with such banal lyrics that the emotions it intends to rouse are dulled.
Initially, I thought I might have mistakenly wandered into the opening night of Carousel as we are introduced to the Warshowsky family, a troupe of Polish actors enjoying a last carefree evening at the fairground before being herded into the starkly contrasting Warsaw Ghetto. Later, there’s a hint of The Sound of Music as they perform what is intended to be an inspirational musical for their fellow internees on the eve of transportation, in 1942, to the extermination camp of Treblinka. And, with his jokey addresses to the audience, Peter Polycarpou’s impressive and resolutely dignified Daniel invokes memories of Fiddler on the Roof.
There’s one intensely moving sequence (the slow-motion mass suicide of the Jewish community atop Masada in 70 AD, which forms part of the play within a play structure), and cruel killings emphasise the callous brutality of both the Nazi regime and of the Romans centuries earlier.
But although the actors sing their hearts out (beautifully, defiantly), clunky choreography and a parallel pair of uninspiring love stories only serve to emphasise how much this Holocaust musical relies on imitating the style of a host of other familiar (and better) West End successes.
New London, Drury Lane, WC2 (0844-412 4654). Booking until February 28. £60 - £17.50
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