★★★
“The Ghoul with the Ghastly Grin.”
One of Oscar Wilde’s stories but with music? Featuring an entirely original soundtrack performed by one pianist and sung by six plucky performers.
Jack Gloyen’s score and performance as the ghost himself, Sir Simon is silly, campy and theatrical. Refreshing character development comes later on in one of the more sombre solos performed by Gloyen.
Frankie Flemming portrays Virginia, the daughter of the Republican owners (Neve McLaughin and Omar Hussein) of Canterville Manor. Both maintain a sturdy American accent throughout the production and provide us with proverbial humour. Flemming’s portrayal is meek and mild but once she begins to sing, the power behind her voice is phenomenal.
The blink-and-you’ll-miss-him Butler tries his best but is the weakest member of the cast. Visibly nervous, he brings himself to sing on key most of the time – most of the time. The maid leans into farcical nature perhaps too much in this piece as she’s the only one, leaving her performance grating and on the verge of overacting.
The Duke brings superb stage presence and plays the archetype of ‘Disney prince’ rather well.
The Harmonies throughout are exquisite, particularly within ‘Marry the Man’ and the four-part harmony whilst family and staff await the return of Virginia towards the end.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few inconsistencies within the production, in both staging and costume. The entire cast is dressed in the correct attire for their period but the women sported high ponytails – not the most shocking of inaccuracies but it stands out like a sore thumb against all other components. In regards to staging, there are many blunders especially when the stage is flooded with action. Every performer at one point, blocked or was blocking their fellow cast. This made for some very clunky dialogue and exits, which took you out of the illusion. It’s understandable this may occur sometimes due to a lack of performance space, but during specific moments of the musical (Sir Simon’s entrance and the blood stain), the action is moved off of the raised platform onto the floor. One wonders why this wasn’t used to combat blatant staging issues throughout. The end of the musical feels rushed and although this could have been due to time constraints it feels a shame to not invite Sir Simon back for a final goodbye to the audience.
The Canterville Ghost holds a lot of potential.
The show closed at TheSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall on 26th August.
Review by Jade Flack
