Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Crush’ which is at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre until Saturday 19th September – and then tours to Brighton and Richmond.
If ‘Crush’ isn’t a huge hit, I’ll eat my hockey stick….naked….in public.
This new musical comedy has all the heart-warming elements of those noble and charming girls’ boarding school novels of yesteryear; laced with hearty humour, sing-able songs and nifty dance routines.
But it goes a lot further than that.
In Maureen Chadwick’s storyline, the discreet, latent lesbianism of the original books comes roaring to the fore. It all begins with rumours of avant garde body painting in the Art Room. But when two uniformed upper sixth schoolgirls kiss passionately on stage it has the same impact as that famous gay snog on ‘Doctor Who’. We are taken out of our cosy, comfort zone and thrust into another world. Miss Chadwick and her composing companion Kath Gotts have transformed the Girl’s Own Annual formula into something far more compelling.
It’s the early 60s and a horrible headmistress (Miss Bleacher, masterfully played by Rosemary Ashe) has taken command at Dame Dorothea Dosserdale’s School for Girls with a harsh mission to dominate and destroy; and there certainly won’t be any of ‘that’ in her school.
Rallied by the lovely deputy head Miss Austin (a perfect part for Sara Crowe) the distraught girls vow to vanquish their tyrant. But they hadn’t reckoned on the dastardly deeds of the school sneak Brenda…a cute comedy character, of which Georgia Oldman makes the absolute most.
The ‘crush’ is a sincere three-way stretch between the rich girl Camila (Charlotte Miranda-Smith), the council house beauty Susan ( Stephanie Clift ) and the overseas pupil, Daimler, played by Briana Ogunbawo – whose soulful singing voice is a real show stopper. Joy and pain come pouring out of all three young actors in a most impressive manner. Amidst the merry mocking of the genre…here is something to really empathize with.
Kath Gotts has created twenty new songs for this show and there are no makeweights.
She and choreographer Richard Roe clearly recall the thwack of hockey sticks and the clatter of studs on changing room tiles – and have conjured up a fabulously jokey tap routine, led with gusto by Kirsty Malpass as the mysterious gym mistress who’s come to save the school. The lyrics are nicely nostalgic and fabulous fun. “Put on your navy knicks, pick up your hockey sticks. Pull on your aertex shirt and your thigh-length pleated skirts….”
The jokiness of the songs is a constant delight; from gay observation – “Camilla could fill her with a passion that could kill her…” – to the unreasonableness of being a teenager – “Snot, snot, it’s not fair”. You have to keep your ears tuned.
In the second half the sketchy beige of the school décor bursts out into the multi-colour of the swinging sixties – and the songs become more meaningful as the sexuality strengthens and the show breaks its bounds. For example, there’s an arresting nightclub sequence with a rather interesting cross-dressing German chanteuse. Someone somewhere is fulfilling a fantasy.
I’d be a worse school sneak than Brenda if I spilled more beans. Just expect the unexpected and luxuriate in the audacity. I reckon Miss Bleacher’s final song is a dead ringer for Margaret Thatcher doing a Shirley Bassey belter….
The only obstacle I fear might stand in this excellent new show’s way to the West End is the title. ‘Crush’ is such an ugly word with other, crueller meanings. There has to be something better.
Visit www.belgrade.co.uk for bookings & more information about Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre