Curve, Leicester
30th
December, 2014
One of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most popular musicals gets a
glorious outing at Curve to say ‘so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye’
to director Paul Kerryson, who’s been artistic director of Leicester’s main theatres
for over 20 years.
From Broadway hit to Bank Holiday standard, The Sound of Music may be sweet but its
background of impending war is as dark as the Austrian hills are a luscious
green. For those who don’t know the story, it sees peppy, joyous wannabe nun
Maria (beautifully played by Laura Pitt-Pulford) asked to leave the abbey as
her behaviour is unsuitable and she is in the habit of singing too much (yes,
that was a habit pun). She joins the strictly-raised Von Trapp children, and
after a gay old time and falling in love with the Captain, has to escape the
country with her new family to flee from the Nazis. It’s entertaining, if
perhaps too syrupy for some. But it is successful in its triumphing of freedom
of expression over the repressing forces of war, near-military family routines
and the restrictions of an abbey.
Paul Kerryson’s fine production fills Curve’s vast stage to
extraordinary effect. It’s the biggest stage outside London apparently and Al
Parkinson’s design is effective: the mountain at the back evokes considerable
awe, the religious imagery conveys the forces and atmosphere of the abbey, and
the Von Trapp house is cleverly used. Michael French has now pulled out of the
production due to personal reasons but his understudy Mark Inscoe was
impressive as was Susannah Van den Berg as the understudy Mother Abbess. The
whole cast though excel. Some of the dialogue scenes and lesser-known songs
occasionally slow down the pace but this is highly enjoyable.
And, once more, there is considerable praise for Curve:
artistically and aesthetically, especially the latter, this regional theatre
impresses from the moment you walk up to the front door. Incoming AD Nikolai
Foster has big boots to fill but I’m sure he’ll deliver.
It may be kitsch, but it has superb performances and sets and
some great songs, and as a Christmas treat with the family in a packed theatre,
kitsch is no bad thing.
The Sound of Music runs at Curve, Leicester until 17th
January, 2015.
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