⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Dickens' Our Mutual Friend is dunked head-first into Peaky Blinders' territory with punchy adaptation from Ben Power and transporting music by PJ Harvey.
"It begins like this...with the dusk and the storm and the Thames," sings alto-toned Bella Wilfer (Bella Maclean). This encapsulates the tone of London Tide; gritty, visceral and poetic. The play is based on one of Charles Dickens' lesser-known but more critically acclaimed novels, Our Mutual Friend, a social satire on class and the pursuit of wealth above all else. The two young women at the centre of the story are both born into poverty and face uncertain futures. Stoic Lizzie Hexam (a convincing Ami Tredrea) is haunted by her part in her father's gruesome trade on the river, and beautiful Bella Wilfer is a a widow, haunted by a marriage that never was. The theme of secrets, shame and longing meander seamlessly through this adaptation.
The music is the life-blood of the play. The essence of noisy, discordant Victorian London is captured in the abrupt guitar and drums and the ballad-inspired lyrics nod to story-telling conventions and romanticism of the past. But the overall language and sound are pleasingly anachronistic and therefore provide a modern audience with a relatability and an emotional pull, rather than a production set firmly in a separate past that sits neatly in a Victorian box tied with brown paper and string. The collaboration between singer-songwriter, PJ Harvey, lyricist, Ben Power, and musical director, Ian Ross, manages to produce gut-wrenching songs such as Eugene Alone, performed by Jamael Westman (Eugene Wrayburn).
If music is the hero of this production, the staging is the trusty sidekick. A polished black stage is transformed into the undulating Thames as several rows of spotlights ascend and descend in waves. A backdrop of a dark, thin curtains, onto which shadows of characters are cast help add to the murky atmosphere of the tale, while simple pieces of wood are used as both set structure and props as tables and benches, creating tableaus that show inside, as well as bankside.
Anna Morrissey's choreography brings the cast together as separate droplets forming one wave, whether dredging themselves up from the riverbed and onto the stage at the opening, or tumbling artfully over one another during the play's climactic musical interlude.
Director, Ian Rickson, and fight co-ordinator, Terry King, are also able to create a particularly innovative scene of Roger 'Rogue' Riderhood (Joe Armstrong) and schoolteacher, Bradley Headstone (Scott Karim) struggling and drowning in the water, simply by billowing a piece of silvery cloth and utilising clever lighting to simulate the Thames' surface.
In summary, London Tide is a captivating adaptation of a complex narrative, with a coherent visual language in both costume and staging, an accomplished cast and a soundtrack which faithfully captures the tone of Dickens' novel while appealing to contemporary audiences.
London Tide ran from 10 April — 22 June 2024. Find out more about the production here and the making of the music below.
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