Picture: Natalie Lomako
Ordinary Days continues at the Drayton Arms Theatre, London until 9 December.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
Like any form of drama, musical theatre thrives on a diversity of form. Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days for instance is a through-sung, character-led piece enhanced by minimalist staging.
As the title suggests, its themes are refreshingly unspectacular, focusing on four young adults contemplating their place both in life and in the Big Apple.
Jason is about to move in with his girlfriend Claire, while Deb is feeling the pressure of being an undergraduate. Warren in the meantime is marking time cat-sitting while trying to decide how to kick-start his own career as an artist.
The abrasive Deb and gentle Warren strike up an unlikely relationship when he recovers her lost notebook. Jason and Claire, however, are feeling the pressure of sharing a space, but this is nothing compared to the pressure of sharing each other’s pasts.
It’s not a complicated story and it’s told with a lightness of touch reminiscent of any popular American television drama – no mean feat for a through-sung musical.
Gwon’s lyrics are smart, sharp and beautifully pitched to suit the mood of the piece but what Ordinary Days lacks is variation.
Each song has pretty much the same tone and style. It’s not wrong or bad, it’s just that in the composer’s driving seat, Gwon’s hands never shift from the ten o’clock/two o’clock position.
It’s a long, long way from muzak but gradually every number begins to sound like another verse of ‘Taylor – The Latte Boy’. When the drama shifts up a gear, the score never quite matches it with the same precision as the lyrics.
The minimalism of Ordinary Days is bound to make it a popular choice for tyro producers and directors. I can’t imagine a stronger design concept or indeed a bigger budget adding anything to this show.
Rowland Braché on the solo keyboard is really all that’s required and he performs this duty with an intelligent sensitivity.
Likewise, director Jen Coles’ simple staging gives the audience everything it needs to transport them to the hustle and bustle of New York City life.
The casting too is excellent and as pairings go, Nora Perone as the abrasive Deb and Neil Cameron as the needy art-lover Warren is by far the more satisfying. It’s not only familiar – think Will & Grace, the early years – it’s also very funny.
The relationship between Claire and Jason is far more nuanced and provides Natalie Day with some of the shows stronger numbers.
In truth, you could dedicate a whole show to this couple’s relationship. Gwon may cut a few too many corners in their story but Day and Taite-Elliot Drew deliver the necessary emotional clarity to make it work.
Streetlights, People! Productions’ Ordinary Days is a perfectly enjoyable piece of contemporary musical theatre. Its journey began life at the Hen & Chickens before a run at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe (where it was nominated for Musical Theatre Review’s inaugural Best Musical Award) and now this incarnation at the Drayton Arms, thanks to the venue’s Eddie Award Scheme, which offers a free transfer of an Edinburgh show for a three-week run.
It will be interesting to see how this young company progresses and which shows it next chooses to stage.
Paul Vale
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