Cells is available to stream via Metta Theatre’s YouTube channel.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Lockdown projects. Get ready for them. We have already seen a healthy number of new musicals of various shapes seep out of this pandemic, but surely this is just the tip of the iceberg. Writers have been locked at their desks for a long time and there is a great boom coming. We here at Musical Theatre Review simply cannot wait.
In a world where professional-quality video is more accessible than ever, a lot of these new projects might do well to take lessons from P Burton-Morgan and Ben Glasstone’s new musical, Cells. Over the course of seven short instalments, this charming film tells the story of a late-night takeaway meeting between two seemingly unrelated characters. These episodes have now been joined together as a full-length film, and at a total running time of only half an hour it is well worth pouring yourself a drink and treating yourself to the entire thing in one go.
Cells is centred around two immensely charismatic performances: Lem Knights as an awkward but loveable young science student starting out in life; and Clive Rowe as an older science technician who just so happens to be incredibly popular with the ladies. After their coincidental encounter and connection, the student suspects their relationship might in fact run deeper than a shared taste for Doner meat. He picks up the older man’s discarded napkin and, like a kebab shop Jeremy Kyle, decides he must run a DNA test…
(Fun fact: This reviewer is a science technician for his day job and can confirm that this portrayal of us as lotharios irresistible to the opposite sex is, sadly, Cells’ major realism misstep. Still, it is nice for our profession to finally receive the same musical representation that green witches, red-headed orphans and big cat monarchs have been enjoying for years. Before this it was pretty much just Igor in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, which was less flattering, though probably more accurate.)
Burton-Morgan’s lyrics are quite conversational and naturalistic, giving echoes of verbatim musical theatre pieces such as London Road. With the action mostly taking place in small labs and a kebab shop, musical director Phil Cornwell’s all-acoustic, small-band arrangements serve the tone much better than a full orchestra would have. A particular joy of watching this piece is the talented singers’ authentic vocal performances, which prioritise emotion and acting over technical perfection. That isn’t to say there is anything unpleasant on the ear, just that it makes a nice change from that Disney autotuned tone that sometimes can plague musical film.
Burton-Morgan’s story and dialogue are the main attraction though. Nothing is particularly shocking or revolutionary – and perhaps the plot is a little far-fetched at points – but to take these characters on such a journey in 30 minutes without proceedings ever seeming false or rushed marks out Burton-Morgan as scriptwriting talent to be reckoned with. The collaboration with Ben Glasstone has produced a neat set of songs that are sharply functional, yet fully enjoyable in their own right.
The science is clear: there is no reason to not treat yourself to this wonderful, feel-good show (and make a donation to the partnered regional theatre venues while you’re at it). Cells is a masterclass in efficient character-building, a wonderfully acted half-hour of entertainment and a promising sign of the new forms of musical theatre to come.
Ian Bowkett
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