Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat continues at Kilworth House Theatre, Leicestershire until 7 July 2019.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Oh Joseph, here we are again. You’re no less problematic than before – terrible people are rewarded with fortune and love, women are no more than saints or demons, and our main character is an unapologetic narcissist.
Our favourite Bible story, except for those other ones, is brought to life with joyous abandon (for a second year running) by director and choreographer Andrew Wright’s outstanding company. Beneath the Kilworth House Theatre canopy, and the midsummer sunset, brass is turned firmly into musical theatre gold.
Jacob Fisher plays the lead with an earnest pathos and middle-distance nobility, every bit the part, and in fine voice, coming to life during his torch-moment, ‘Close Every Door’.
Our Narrator Carole Stennett owns her role, colouring Rice’s wordy exposition with high charisma and vocal acrobatics – she is a highlight of the show.
Joseph (in case you live under a rock and aren’t aware of the ‘most performed musical of all time’), is the story of a golden-boy born into a widowed family of 12, who feels so superior to his siblings that he dons a rainbow jacket and orders them about, to their chagrin.
By the end of the show, he’s… reunited with his rainbow jacket and ordering his family about again, but now he’s an advisor to the Pharoah so everyone’s… cool with it, I guess? I don’t know, there’s something about bullying in there somewhere but it’s all a bit confusing. Ah well, it’s great to see the children onstage.
Speaking of, this year’s young cast performs with a great synchronicity, led by a confident and strong-voiced Alfie Murray – all of them well-disciplined onstage and most importantly, having a ball.
Comic relief is reliably delivered by Hywel Dowsell (Simeon/Baker) – treading the line beautifully between quip and pantomime – and providing some standout moments, especially for the younger members of the audience.
Craig Armstrong similarly finds a wry wit in both of his roles (Father and Potiphar) that cuts through the room with a twinkle.
takis’ set once again proves that less is more – the three tardis-esque pyramids unfurl into ever more elaborate displays throughout but strip down to minimalist versatility at the drop of a hat.
It might seem petty to pick on the puppetry – after all this is Joseph, not War Horse, but actually when your currency is slapstickm it’s all the more important to engage with the nuance of your object. Wright’s choreography is so fantastically observed and performed, it seems a shame that the unattended levitating back legs of a camel, for example, should draw focus – unless that carelessness is a clear choice.
Broad foreign pastiches and strange musical genres collide in an inexplicable contextual tangle, but the band led by George Dyer handle each sudden gear change with grace and impeccable cohesion.
Another summer evening draws to a close, and what better company or venue to suspend your pesky nagging scruples for than this. After all, it’s terribly, terribly catchy, and they are terribly, terribly good.
Aura Simon
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