Sharif Afifi and Johanne Murdock in The ToyBoy Diaries at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester. Picture: Anthony Robling
The ToyBoy Diaries continues at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester until 10 February.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
Wendy Salisbury’s 2007 biographical novel charts the exploits of an antiques dealer of a certain age who, having raised a family and divorced two husbands, decides (in her own words) that she’s done with procreation and now wants recreation.
This new musical adaptation of The Toyboy Diaries, with book by Salisbury and Simon Warne and music and lyrics by Andy Collyer, turns Wendy into Lily, played with style and sass by Johanne Murdock.
If Hope Mill Theatre could be said to possess a fourth wall, Lily ignores it. She addresses her audience in several narrative passages, introducing her diary as something that was, just for the moment, intended for her eyes only. It’s an homage (or is that a fromage?) she says, to her past.
And with this bold introduction the piece sets out its stall, which at times does swerve in the direction of the cheese counter, but that’s clearly intentional.
Collyer, who provided orchestrations for Hope Mill’s previous two musicals, Pippin and Little Women, has written a score that feels fresh and engaging, whilst embracing the sense that the story is already history.
There are flavours of Sondheim in the musical structure, as well as in the tail-chasing lyrics, and more than a hint of the world of Company.
Lily’s neighbour Penny, played with sitcom primness by Nicola Blackman, perches on her shoulder like Jiminy Cricket, egging her on here, reigning her in there and frequently popping up at moments when Lily might prefer her to go home.
Then, of course, there are the Toy Boys themselves – an endless string of them – we’re probably supposed to lose track. Matt Beveridge, Sharif Afifi and Alistair Higgins are on and off the stage in a series of quick changes that must take their breath away, but it certainly doesn’t show.
All three come with an arsenal of accents and personalities that’s easy to overlook, but just try counting the characters they play.
Many of the costumes are clearly intended to render parts of the audience demographic breathless too (and ably succeed) but the best of the humour is in the dialogue rather than the cheeky visual comedy.
There are plenty of great, current opportunities for the story to stand behind the empowerment of women, but perhaps director Tania Azevedo and the producers felt that they didn’t need to jump aboard that cause.
However, in deciding to have fun with the story rather than make a statement, it sometimes goes a bit too far the other way.
The piece is full of sharply observed wit and there are already plenty of laughs, without the need to descend quite so far into hen party territory. One musical interlude involving a decidedly un-fluffy rabbit could be among the judicious trimming that the show would benefit from.
There are one or two songs that fail to add anything useful and only serve to arrest the flow, and the work could do with a few minutes cutting from its generous running time.
The Toyboy Diaries is full of laughs with moments for sober reflection, and the cast really communicate their sense of fun in delivering it.
The band, under musical director Andrew Griffiths, give a great rendering of Collyer’s sharp score and, as always at Hope Mill, the sound design is expertly balanced. A few minor tweaks to the twerks could sharpen it up all the more.
Nigel Smith
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