Play On! – Lyric Hammersmith, London

Talawa have the perfect antidote to winter blues with the infectiously vibrant and exuberant Play On!, gracing London on the final stop on tour.

Play On!

Two nights at the theatre, for two such different shows!  Yesterday we had an evening of juggling and magic at The Place, as we were treated to Gandini Juggling’s Heka.  Today it’s jazz, Shakespearean inspiration and Black Joy as Talawa bring Twelfth Night-inspired Play On! to the Lyric Hammersmith.

If music be the food of love, play on!  So director Michael Buffong and the talented cast do, as they transport us not to Early Modern Illyria, but to Harlem in the 1940s.  The Cotton Club, to be precise.  It’s here that young songwriter Vy (Tsemaye Bob-Egbe) wants to make a name for herself.  She is soon to learn it’s a man’s world, and, in true Shakespearean style, goes gender-swappingly undercover as Vyman.  The familiar love triangle is complete with Duke (Earl Gregory) and Cotton Club songstress Lady Liv (KoKo Alexandra). If you can’t bring all the remaining plot points of Twelfth Night to mind never fear: Sheldon Epps’s adaptation (book by Cheryl L. West) does very well as a stand-alone work.

Sometimes musicals which borrow from existing sources are called jukebox musicals.  You could categorise Play On! as such, in the sense that it features over an hour of music by Duke Ellington.  But this categorisation would hardly befit Play On!’s musicality, or describe how well Ellington’s music tells the story.  Ellington’s enormous catalogue means there’s a perfect song for every moment, every emotion. The second half is perhaps weighted a bit too much towards music over dialogue, but this is a small gripe in the context of a very entertaining and very musical musical.

The Timelessness of Shakespeare

What I think Play On! illustrates well is the timelessness of Shakespeare’s plays. While Play On! is its own work, with a radically different setting and themes associated with its updated time and place, the elements it shares with Twelfth Night are part of what makes it work so well. The love triangle and themes of unrequited love, for instance. The fact that it was a man’s world in the 17th century, the 1940s, and now. And also the device of interspersing the main plot with a humorous subplot involving minor characters.

It’s normally the servants who provide comic relief in Shakespeare’s plays. In Twelfth Night it’s Malvolio, servant to noblewoman Olivia, who is tricked into appearing foolish to punish him for his arrogance. In this transposed version it’s Rev (Cameron Bernard-Jones) who is similarly fooled by Jester (Llewellyn Jamal), Miss Mary (Tanya Edwards) and Sweets (Lifford Shillingford): just wait for the reinterpretation of the yellow, cross-gartered look. The come-uppance is not quite so harsh, though. But the point here is that the subplot, just as in the original, fleshes out the story, brings more characters to life, and provides consistent humour if the main storyline is in danger of being too earnest.

All in all, Play On! is great fun, helped by excellent direction which hits all the right notes. The cast are uniformly excellent, as is the high-energy ensemble. ULTZ‘s set is simple and effective, especially paired with lighting by Johanna Town. Kenrick H2O Sandy’s choreography combines 1940s moves with contemporary elements, as does the music (Liam Godwin as Musical Supervisor and Arranger, Benjamin Kwasi Burrell as Orchestrator and Arranger, and Ashton Moore as Musical Director). Having the live band on stage helps to bring the famous Cotton Club back to life. And I think probably helps the music to hold its own against some very powerful vocals: there isn’t a weak voice anywhere amongst the cast. Alexandra in particular soars to incredible heights, while Shillingford and Jamal delight once they finally show off their vocal ranges.

The Lyric Hammersmith is the last stop on Play On!’s tour, which has included the Belgrade Theatre, Birmingham Hippodrome, Liverpool Playhouse and Salisbury Playhouse. And from what I can see, this seems to be the first serious revival since the original production went from San Diego to Broadway in the early 1990s. Don’t miss out, Talawa and a talented cast are working real magic here.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 5/5

Play On! on until 22 February 2025. More info and tickets here.