Songs For Nobodies continues at the Ambassadors Theatre, London until 23 February 2019.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Premiered in 2018 at Wilton’s Music Hall, I was bowled over by the virtuosity and writing of this one-woman play with music. My fear that its impact might be dulled on a second viewing was unfounded. Its impact is undiminished. I cannot envisage any musical theatre performer who could pull off the monologues and the changes of vocal style so adeptly, added to which the very real acting talent of Bernadette Robinson makes this a funny and emotionally moving evening.
A long-time admirer of the singers and songs featured in this play, Bernadette Robinson approached director Simon Phillips and writer Joanna Murray-Smith to create a piece for her. Murray-Smith cleverly interweaves the impact of fictional encounters by women who were singing superstars on women leading comparatively ordinary lives.
Phillips stages and directs the piece with intricate detail, Robinson holding our attention as she juggles making tea and cocktails while sharing the lives of the Somebodies and Nobodies in Murray-Smith’s truthful writing.
One is astonished at the sheer virtuosity and accuracy of the singing. Garland, Piaf, Cline, and then we get Billie Holiday in a heartfelt singing of ‘Strange Fruit’ that alone is worth the ticket price before she launches into ‘Lady Sing the Blues’ and ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business’.
And just when you think she cannot do more, she caps it with ‘Vissi d’Arte’ from Puccini’s Tosca, in a monologue about an Irish nanny on board the Onassis yacht watching Onassis and Maria Callas fall in love to the dismay of their spouses. A tribute to Robinson’s talent is that it is never just clever mimicry. She captures the voice and style and imbues the songs with emotion.
The three-piece band under Greg Arrowsmith sound more than they are. The wailing saxophone of Oliver Weston on ‘Strange Fruit’ is plaintively evocative. Orchestrations are by Ian MacDonald. The balanced sound is by Justin Teasdale and Tony Gayle. The simple set by Justin Nardella is appropriate, lit by Malcolm Rippeth.
Garry McQuinn, Daniel Sparrow and Hannah Durose are to be congratulated on bringing this production to the West End for a limited run. It’s a shining jewel amongst many others sparkling in London’s theatre scene. You’d be insane to miss it in this limited run.
Leon Ferguson
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INTERVIEW: ‘Expect to be immersed in a gorgeous story’: Bernadette Robinson brings her one-woman show Songs For Nobodies to the West End
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