Picture: Lidia Crisafulli
Midnight continues at the Union Theatre, London until 29 September 2018.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
A play set during Stalin’s regime of terror may seem an unlikely subject for a musical, but this piece of music theatre is an enthralling evening.
Imaginatively directed by Kate Golledge on a striking set by Elliott Squire, with choreography by Chris Cuming, and inventive lighting by Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson, the musical score by Laurence Mark Wythe (music and lyrics) and Timothy Knapman (lyrics and book) has echoes of eastern Europe, interrupted by the forbidden Western music the central couple play in secret.
The orchestrations are superb, as delicate as Ravel at times, before seguing into a tango or an intense ballad. Excellent musical direction is by Harry Haden-Brown who accompanies on the piano.
The use of the chorus is particularly inventive, the actor-musicians a constant presence, moving in and out of roles and becoming an integral part of the staging. They are all striking individuals and are a vital contribution to the production. The haunting clarinet, the throbbing double bass, the violin wielded as a machine gun.
Melania Maggiore sings a wonderful ballad as the late Mrs Garibzade, ‘Let me Sleep’. Ashley Daniels is a striking presence as the ghostly Mr Garibzade. Tilly-Mae Millbrook and Luke Thornton complete the impressive quartet.
Leon Scott as the Visitor is magnetic, and switches from menace to humour with ease, handling his pastiche ‘The Secret Policeman’s Lament’ with aplomb. Colin Burnicle and Norma Butikofer as the Man and Woman sing well; Burnicle’s upper register has great beauty, with soaring top notes.
It’s always a pleasure to hear voices unamplified in a small space, the only drawback being the lack of clarity in the lower registers. Burnicle’s ‘What Would You Do’ is another great ballad.
They handle the twists and turns of the plot with ease as truths and lies are laid bare. One hears echoes of Sondheim and Les Mis in the score, inevitable from any writers creating new work, but it’s a pleasure to hear a new voice in the writing.
As in The Band’s Visit on Broadway, the music mainly stays within the framework of the piece, with just occasional lapses into conventional musical theatre. If the writers had resisted these lapses and stayed closer to the intent of the play, it might have had a greater intensity, like Sondheim’s Passion. A minor quibble.
It’s far from mainstream musical theatre, so grab the chance and go see it.
* Midnight is a Debunk Theatre presentation based on the play Citizens of Hell by Elchin, commissioned and first produced for Debunk Theatre by Sanan Aliyev.
Leon Ferguson
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