REVIEW | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Southwark Playhouse Elephant
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Reviewer - Eliott
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
In 2019, on the whim of a very positive tagline from a well-known online publication, I booked a ticket for a show of a film adaptation I had never seen. I was unsure what I would make of the show, but on that very evening, 1st June 2019, I found that my taste in Musical Theatre would change forever. That show of course was F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which had been given a Cornish folk reinvention, and now, just four years after that very night, I sat back in my seat at The Southwark Playhouse Elephant and was whisked away to the Cornish shores once more.
I believe some things, no matter how much you put superlatives in sentences to hype up the reader’s excitement, will never do justice to a piece of art, no matter what form that's presented in. Believe me in this moment right now when I say, you must travel to see this production, which has excelled, thanks to years of reworking and fine-tuning, to become what I believe will be the hottest ticket in town. What Director Jethro Compton and Co-Music Supervisor Darren Clark have delivered is a masterpiece in the finest definition of the word. Stretching the 2019 four-piece company into now a sizeable twelve, was one of the most intelligent choices that has been made to elevate the orchestrations behind earworms such as 'A Little Life', 'Matter of Time' and the heart-pounding 'Home', a personal favourite from its original run that carries so elegantly over to its current form.
The company as a whole is worth the ticket alone. Candidly speaking within the programme, which I've never seen in any capacity before, is a breakdown of the costs in this production; £373,078. Now whilst the production has now formed a handful of producers, the ticket prices set for this run will guarantee a loss for the show, it's a statement that is so unusual to find in this industry, but when you fully take into account the amount of audience who were emotionally bereft with sniffles and tears streaming down their face (a few in the company too mirroring this), it's productions like Benjamin Button which makes us want to invest more; with a company that has such high quality in production and technology alike, we are forever indebted to the talent we will see before us. Whilst the show will make a loss, the memories we come away with will stay predominantly in our minds.
To touch upon a few of the company, Jamie Parker and Molly Osbourne captured the entire heart and soul of the show within the very moment we lock in on their characters; 'Just' Benjamin, and Elowen Keene. Unbeknownst to Elowen, the man who comes by the pub sheepishly every Friday with a simple 'please' and 'thank you' to his vocabulary will become a man who she'll remember forever. We experience the pain of Benedict Salter's Roger Button, the father of the titular character, with how his disdain for his son aids his story arc, and by the final moments of his presence, it's a moment of breathless that takes us by surprise, just one of many to have been conjured throughout. Overall, the whole company are worthy of their status and presence on stage in the many roles they deliver, and it's a privilege to be in the palm of their hands for the evening.
With music becoming its own character in the vital role it provides, with revisiting motifs and a string of chords from previous numbers dotted amid the action. Zoe Spurr's lighting also arouses emotions and gasps from the audience in particular moments; The Moon and the Sea, one of the more tender numbers in Act One, slows down what has been a rather brisk first half already, and allows Spurr to create a vision of wonder and open mindfulness in provoking thoughts, just as Elowen asks the very same thing to Benjamin. It's the sweetest of moments, that sure left a little twinkle in the eye, just as the room lit up with endless possibilities above the stage.
There are still so many moments that could be spoken about, but one thing is for sure, reader; I'll be booking again to see this show in a heartbeat, because 'it’s only a matter of time' before the show becomes a critical hit, and tickets will fly.
At Southwark Playhouse, until 01 July.
