Kelly Sweeney and Janet Fullerlove in Unexpected Joy at Southwark Parkhouse. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
Unexpected Joy continues at Southwark Playhouse, London until 29 September 2018.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The European Premiere of Bill Russell and Janet Hood’s new musical Unexpected Joy is an… Unexpected Joy!
Following the Off-Broadway premiere earlier this year producers Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Jim Kierstead for Kierstead Productions have brought Unexpected Joy to the intimate Southwark Playhouse for a limited season.
It is a show full of laughter, with a sprinkling of heartache and soul-searching and some fabulous songs performed brilliantly by the talented all-female cast – the perfect recipe for a great night’s entertainment.
There is always a fear that when shows tackle ‘issues’ the audience is going to be lectured and submitted to the writer’s point of view. Not so in this case. Russell and Hood have very cleverly woven the story of three generations of women tackling situations which are very relevant today, whilst demonstrating that there can be laughter even at the most difficult times.
Joy (Janet Fullerlove) is an aging singer who’d enjoyed success with her late lover Jump. She has a strained relationship with her daughter Rachel (Jodie Jacobs), now married to a right-wing TV evangelist and living a very conservative life. Rachel is visiting her mother for a special tribute concert to her late father, along with her own daughter Tamara, who of course loves her rather outrageous granny. What Rachel doesn’t know is that her mother is planning to marry her new lover – another singer called Lou (Melanie Marshall) – who just happens to be a woman.
The main message here is tolerance and acceptance and the freedom to love whoever we want. But by highlighting Rachel’s own issues with her parents it also demonstrates that, regardless of the fact they loved her unconditionally, their behaviour and bohemian lifestyle had a profound effect on her life and decisions.
A special mention must go to Kelly Sweeney making her professional debut as Tamara. She gives a fantastic performance throughout and her first number ‘Like a Good Girl’ is very funny – she is a real find by casting director Jane Deitch. Definitely a young star in the making.
Amy Anders Corcoran has directed a really upbeat and well-paced production. Musical director Gareth Bretherton leads an excellent band – Alex Crawford, Dan Giles and Danny Newell. There is a simple but effective design by Verity Johnson with lighting designed by Nic Farman (a tiny criticism here – the backlights that hit the audience are painfully glaring) and a well-balanced sound design by James Nicholson.
Running 95 minutes without an interval is a little bum-numbing (however, an interval would ruin it) but who cares when you are having fun? Fingers crossed for the future of this production. It would work really well in one of the more intimate West End theatres. In the meantime make your way to Southwark Playhouse and see Unexpected Joy before the end of the run.
Helena Howard
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