★ ★ ★ ★

Reviewer - Jennie

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

Some content warnings: abortion, assault, alcohol, drugs, strop lighting, 1 gunshot, mental health, discrimination, homophobia and anti-semistism. Suitable for 16+

Fury and Elysium is a new musical about queer and Jewish women in Berlin in the 1910s, to when Hitler came into power and the holocaust began. You step into the intimate space of The Other Palace studio and are presented with a small stage with a few grey cushions on it and 3 musicians; a line-up of a drumkit, piano and upright bass. This is a fairly unassuming start to what promises to be an enlightening production. Then, from the second the show begins, you’re immersed in the world of Fury and Elysium.

The music starts out disjointed and unsettling, accompanied by a brilliantly strong soprano opening from Maya Tenenbaum. The rest of the cast moves through the audience and, from that moment, you’re in their world. Straight away you’re presented with the 6 main characters as their archetypes are sewn onto their costumes, which otherwise consist of dark dungarees, white shirts, black dresses and plain trousers. This is something that allows for multi-rolling, a key feature of this show and something that was done very effectively, and was all to the credit of the performers as they were able to switch between accents and characters incredibly quickly and convincingly. Michal Horowicz is brilliant at this, as she goes from the heartfelt, mature socialist to a sleazy male journalist to a vulnerable young woman.

If there is one word to describe this show, it’s fearless. The content and themes of the show are heavy and are addressed head-on without any tip-toeing around it. It’s uncomfortable at times, but in a way that makes you want to listen rather than look away. Female stereotypes are at the heart of the script, especially in scenes about abortion, sex work and women in employment, and the performers playing men in those moments made me audibly groan in frustration as their stereotyped phrases were spot on. The use of stereotypes, although very on-the-nose, is done without feeling forced or cringey and is instead sadly relatable for many members of the audience. This parallel between a hundred years ago and now is one of the things that makes you realize how important this show is. Although marketed as a Jewish and Queer musical, the show does feel more weighted towards the stories of queer people during that time, whether this was intentional or not.

Fury and Elysium is a musical, which is something quite unusual for a show with topics this difficult, especially a show that incorporates many elements of Epic Theatre. It’s the composer Calista Zazuko Georget’s first musical and you never would’ve guessed it. The music was thoughtfully composed, making resourceful use of just three musicians, particularly the piano. Although not always catchy, the music always added to a scene or a character’s journey, particularly that of The Journalist and The Dancer, and cleverly captures that era of Germany without it being a gimmicky pastiche. It still relates to audiences today, and the group numbers are used to make a connection with the audience in a way that may otherwise be difficult. Not to mention, the music was fantastically performed by the musicians, and full credit to them as the music was complex, as well as being onstage with the actors, adding to the elements of Epic Theatre.

READ: INTERVIEW with Stephanie Martin and Calista Kazuko Georget, Fury and Elysium

The singing is also fantastic, with a range of voice types, a particularly strong alto/mezzo voice from Danielle Steers, the Madam, who has a beautiful tone on those lower notes. Ashely Goh also had a difficult job vocally and was also incredible at pulling off lower, gruff-sounding songs. Fury and Elysium is casted extremely well, and I felt they represented modern women very well, as this show is intended to. Performers from different races, of different ages, a mixture of trans and cisgender performers, different body types, a real spectrum of women and queer people that we see every day but that don’t get the representation on stage that they should.

One standout feature of this show was the physicality. Dance is usually the star of most musicals, but it was physical theatre that standout here. As I mentioned before, the performers move through the audience, using their physicality to tell their character’s stories and all of them did so extremely effectively. The Dada and The Dancer, played by Rosie Yadid and Iz Hesketh respectively, were particularly fantastic at this. Yadid as The Dada used her physicality to portray her character’s eccentricity, as well as using a brilliant German accent. Iz Hesketh, on the other hand, beautifully uses dance and physical theatre to connect to the audience and portray her character’s hardship.

Although this show is heavy, you can tell it comes from a place of pride and joy. The joy of being queer, the pride of being Jewish, the joy of being yourself, and it portrays queer relationships in a way that is rarely seen. As a young queer person myself, it was beautiful to see that shown on stage so honestly and fearlessly. It really is a blueprint for how queer people should be presented. I came out of the show feeling inspired and joyous about who I am, my community, and the future for marginalised women. Fury and Elysium is a show that promises a lot and gives a lot more. I, for one, would love to see this show again, but next time on the bigger stage it truly deserves.

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