Kane Verrall and Jed Berry in Fanny and Stella at The Eagle Garden Theatre, London. Picture: Alex Hinson
Fanny and Stella continues at The Eagle Garden Theatre, London until 28 August 2020.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
As the few dozen attendees took their seats at The Eagle last night there was an unusual tension in the air. Was the theatrical experience always like this? It has been so long. Somebody coughing loudly during an emotional moment was always slightly irritating, but it never came with this slight twinge of fear for one’s own safety…
A production of an edgy drama could make interesting and challenging use of this audience unrest, but fortunately for tonight’s eager and live entertainment-starved audience, Fanny and Stella instead plots a course for pure fun and reaches its destination with ease and panache. Director Steven Dexter has included some playful acknowledgement of the current circumstances – and a tale of Victorian homosexuality is sadly never entirely free of some tragedy – but this show never lets a smile leave the face for very long, even if those smiles are covered by the compulsory masks.
The musical – first performed in 2015 – tells the true story of Ernest Boulton and Frederick William Park, two Victorian men who were put on trial for dressing as women and conspiracy to commit sodomy. Here the pair are brought to life by Kane Verrall and Jed Berry, and they give their personal account of what really went down.
They play off one another and the unusually rowdy audience beautifully. The atmosphere is one of bawdy vivacity and Berry and Verrall take the heckles and ill-judged whoops in their stride. They are equally loveable in their roles as they change in and out of drag. Berry imbues Stella with cutting drollery and some brilliantly understated physical comedy, while Verrall brings more ostentation and some of the night’s best singing.
With such a fantastic pair of leads, it is a tribute to both Glenn Chandler’s campily witty book and the talents of the supporting cast that the various characters Kurt Kansley, Alex Lodge and Joaquin Pedro Valdes inhabit each have multiple moments of comic and tragic brilliance. Meanwhile, Mark Pearce pulls out every accent in the book to draw some of the biggest laughs of the evening.
The only downside to giving the brilliant supporting cast so many opportunities to shine is it does rob Fanny and Stella themselves of time to demonstrate their sisterly bond. Though Berry and Verrall’s chemistry is undeniable, their characters spend a surprising chunk of the play apart. They share a good deal of hilarious meta-theatrical bickering, but it does feel like there is more to learn about how the two became so inseparable.
The songs – written by Chandler (lyrics) and Charles Miller (music) – are well-constructed and mostly complement the story, rather than directly push it along. However (aside from one lapse into outdated and transphobic language) the songs balance smut and humour well and not once is a song unwelcome. Musical director Aaron Clingham does a fantastic job at the piano. His playing fills the Vauxhall beer garden and the audience spontaneously claps along on more than one occasion.
Fanny and Stella is thoroughly entertaining, boasts an exceptional cast, and will bring a smile to anybody who misses the stage. It is impossible to say whether everybody will feel quite as comfortable with the socially distanced set-up, but the producers and The Eagle have gone to great lengths to ensure audience safety. The space feels clean and secure, with compulsory masks and seats laid out a metre or more apart. The venue staff are incredibly helpful and accommodating and quick to deal with any issues that arise.
The characters Fanny and Stella end the show in a moment of hope for the future of LGBTQI+ acceptance, and as an audience we can add to that a hope for the future of theatre. The formula the production and venue teams have hit upon is one that could be rolled out easily in beer gardens across the country, especially in areas outside London where larger spaces abound and which suffer from less traffic noise than busy Vauxhall.
If you feel ready to re-enter the real world, there are few safer places to do so than at The Eagle in the audience of this show, and none that will give you such a great night of bawdy and captivating fun.
Ian Bowkett
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