The Lady or The Tiger, Theatre at the Tabard Review

Written by Eleanor for Theatre & Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.

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The Lady or the Tiger - an impossible conundrum! This story, similarly to a classic fairytale, is set in a kingdom where we find a sheltered Princess who longs for a Prince. Unfortunately, every suitor who is not deemed good enough is killed by the King. But when a travelling minstrel arrives the Princess sees her opportunity. After being caught by the Prime Minister, the minstrel is forced to choose between two doors; one has behind it a beautiful woman to whom he will marry, the other a vicious tiger. But which will he choose? And will the Princess tell him the answer?

Adapted from a popular short story, this musicalised version of Frank R Stockton’s tale was created by by Jeremy Paul, Michael Richmond and Nola York and first premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre in 1975, then transferred to the Fortune Theatre in the West End. The show has now been revived, directed by Keith Strachan, and is back in London at the Theatre at the Tabard. This is a venue I have been to many times and I thoroughly enjoyed Strachan’s previous show Next Door’s Baby, so I was very intrigued as to what this production would be like.

Overall, I found The Lady or The Tiger to be fun but at times confusing. I must note that it is incredibly impressive and commendable that Wayne Smith entered as a late addition to the cast, playing the King. But there were various moments where I longed for the plot to speed up or slow down, with many of the songs (though catchy) doing little to advance the plot. I feel like this material has promise but needs a real rework to bring it into the 2020’s.

One of the first things I noted as Act One opened was how stripped back and bare the orchestration felt, with only one piano and one cello (played excellently by Philip Shute and Angus Tikka). Although some songs were not affected by this, it was more noticeable in others. In terms of the music more generally, I unfortunately found it to be quite repetitive and lacklustre. Although some of lyrics were quite witty and clever, others were less so. ‘Angelo,’ with lines like the character being “angelonely” or “angelovely,” and ‘Here’s Gold’ were perfect examples of this for me. But I must admit that the titular song was very catchy and many of the audience clearly found the music more entertaining than I did. There were also lots of numbers like ‘The Bow Song’ which did little to advance the plot or tell you anything in depth about the characters, leaving them quite one dimensional.

This is to no disservice to the actors in this production, who certainly did their best with what they were given. Some of my favourite moments were when the Princess (played by Georgie Rodgers) and the minstrel/hero (played by Juan Lobo) would look into the audience as they sang or when each actor engaged with the musicians. I would have loved for a bit more of this and for them to have more fun with it, such as Rodgers flirting with them more overtly during earlier numbers like ‘Lady Evadne.’

I also found the tonal shifts within The Lady or the Tiger difficult to contend with. Although, again, this did not seem to affect it appeal for some other audience members. The opening number, for example, contained some lyrics which came completely out of left field for me. Similarly, ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ had the Princess singling about how she wants to be with a man while in a patchwork pinafore dress and clutching her stuffed animals. We later find out she is actually 25, but this joke came too late for me. It was the kind of script that in recent years I would more expect to see in an adult panto, which I love but would have been better prepared for if this had been marketed slightly differently. I found that throughout the show the jokes were a bit hit or miss, and while there was some audience reaction they were mostly misses for me. The more boardy jokes or moments of passion taking place under a bit of turf were made all the more uncomfortable because of the staging in such a small theatre, and you are right up close to the physical action on stage. And as the story goes on it leans more into the ridiculous. The song ‘Here’s Gold’ was a tipping point for me as the Factotum (Bob Karper) dashes behind the backdrop to change from one stereotypical character into another. Although I could see the merit and humour of this scene, with the American-style cop and the Judge being quite funny, when this moved onto impressions of Donald Trump and Gollum I was lost completely. Again, I really think this show would benefit if it leaned into the more over dramatized and Panto-like elements more. This would certainly fit with the action of the second half. 

Overall, The Lady or The Tiger undoubtedly presents a whimsical take on an age-old and classic feeling tale. While the orchestration and cast make commendable efforts with the material, the pacing issues and tonal inconsistencies detracted from the overall experience for me. Despite this, the show definitely holds potential and I think if the script was updated to reflect more modern styles of humour and to include more nods to the theatrics of pantomime, I would definitely be interested in revisiting it. 

At Theatre at the Tabard until 23 March.

★★.5