PATRICK MARMION reviews Stereophonic at the Duke of York's Theatre: Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll... all that's missing is Fleetwood Mac
Stereophonic (Duke of York's Theatre, London)
Verdict: Goes its own way
Welcome to Stereophonic, the ' Fleetwood Mac ' play with music. Now in the West End after winning five Tony Awards on Broadway, it re-creates one of the most notorious episodes of sex, drugs 'n' rock and roll excess in all of pop history: the recording of the band's 1977 album Rumours.
In the studio back then, singing and squabbling and much more besides, were Americans Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, alongside Brits Christine and John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood.
As you would expect, this gives us lots to get high on in this three-and-a-quarter hour, fly-on-the-wall, dysfunctional re-enactment.
But for all the slick, intoxicating staging and a jaunty rock score by Will Butler (formerly of Arcade Fire) played live by the multi-talented cast – there is one very big elephant in the studio. This is not actually Fleetwood Mac (and the name of the fictional band is never mentioned).
Lucy Karczewski makes a riveting West End debut as the not-Nicks character 'Diana', combining the innocence of Ariana Grande and the agonies of Adele.
She's insidiously controlled by a shady Jack Riddiford as the not-Buckingham character 'Peter' – an insecure 'covert rebel' who was the band's commercial whip-cracker.
Chris Stack brings Jeff Bridges vibes to the not-Fleetwood drummer 'Simon'. And as the not-McVies we have booze-sodden Reg (Zachary Hart, falling apart in front of our eyes) and exasperated Holly (Nia Towles).
There's also a terrific comic Beavis and Butthead-esque double act from Eli Gelb and Andrew R. Butler as the two sound mixers, Grover and Charlie.
David Adjmi's script gets as close to reality as he probably dared; and Daniel Aukin's production is nothing if not watchable, thanks to a remarkable set by David Zinn.
Butler is careful not to expose his score to much comparison, offering mostly musical riffs and snatches. And none of his full-length songs come close to matching the glorious internecine conflict of Go Your Own Way.
If only they'd had the rights to Rumours... this really could have been something stunning.
Stereophonic runs until October 11.
Anna Karenina (Festival Theatre, Chichester)
Verdict: Bookish
Rating:
In Chichester it's not quite Anna Karenina, either. What we want from Leo Tolstoy's 19th-century Russian door-stop is a mad-passionate love story set amid dramatic social upheaval.
What we get, in Phillip Breen's artfully experimental production, is academic analysis and fascinating stagecraft.
Game Of Thrones star Natalie Dormer lends steeliness and intelligence to the title role of the society woman who scandalises St Petersburg by leaving her husband and child for the catastrophic allure of Count Vronsky (Seamus Dillane, son of Stephen).
But their relationship feels bookishly inert. Dormer would have been better off with the man playing the novel's Tolstoy character Levin (David Oakes), who oozes charisma as a reticent man of the country. And Oakes also happens to be Dormer's real-life husband!
Mobilising 19 actors over three hours, Breen's script gives up on drama and has characters explain themselves in awkward soliloquies. But it's cleverly performed amid dolls' houses and rocking horses – as well as toy trains, foreshadowing Anna's eventual fate on the tracks.
Anna Karenina is on until June 28.
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