Book by David Greig
Music and lyrics by Mark Knopfler
Based on the Bill Forsyth Film
Directed by Daniel Evans
Designed by Frankie Bradshaw
Musical director Richard John
Minerva Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Thursday 3 November 2022, 14.45
CAST
Rachael Kendall Brown – Rhona / Movement Captain
Rodney Earl Clarke – Reverend Munro
Ali Craig – Ownie
Julie Cullen – Pauline
Gabriel Ebert- Mac
Liz Ewing- Netta
Lillie Flynn – Stella
Murray Fraser- Iain
Paul Higgins- Gordon
Craig Hunter- Lachie
Hilton McRae – Ben
Joshua Manning – Viktor
Jackie Morrison – Mistress Fraser
Betty Valencia – Shona
Jay Villiers – Happer
THE MUSICIANS
Richard John – musical director, keyboard
Ian Watson – accordion / keyboard
Clodagh Kennedy- violin
Lewis Turner – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ukulele
Huw Davies – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Saffron Young – double bass, bass guitar
Ali Van Ryne – drums
Two Chichester plays in two days. Both musicals (See also The Famous Five: A New Musical) . Each directed by one of next year’s Artistic Directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company. This is directed by Daniel Evans. Not only that but we have a score by Mark Knopfler and he has added new material to his original film score, both as new stage musical songs but also in adding lyrics to instrumental pieces.
We haven’t seen the award-winning 1983 film, upon which it is based, in many years. We had it on video tape. We decided to keep it that way until we’d seen the musical, thus avoiding the syndrome in the other reviews of comparing it with David Putnam’s film. What I remember about the film’s history is that Putnam spend a third of the total budget on securing Burt Lancaster as Happer, the CEO of Knox Oil, which is a support role. So yes, it’s different. The character of Marina has gone totally, as has Peter Capaldi’s role as Oldsen. Take the musical on its own merits.
The stage musical dates to 2019 in Edinburgh. That was destined for the West End in 2020 but was covid-cancelled. The Chichester 2022 is a new production.
The scenic charm of 1983’s film cannot be replicated, so instead we get a curved metallic stage rear, with the best effect lighting of the year. There is some projection too. The stage is metallic for Houston, Texas, home of Knox Oil, then sections are lifted out to reveal a sandy beach surrounding the centre platform when we move to Ferness on the Scottish coasts. In a church section, a piece of the set swivels to reveal a single stained glass window.
A major choice was American Tony-Award winning actor Gabriel Ebert as ‘Mac.’ That eliminates the frequent British dodgy accent issue, but he is also outstanding, a natural musical and stage acting star. This is his first stage role in the UK.
A review said that a couple of minutes in, and you knew at once that this was a way above average production. That’s the thrill both of us felt too.
The story starts in Houston, headquarters of Knox Oil. Mac MacIntyre is in charge of acquisitions and is just returning from a long trip only to be dispatched immediately to Scotland. Knox need to buy a large site for a massive oil refinery at the end of the pipeline in progress from the new offshore oil fields. They have pinpointed Ferness as having an appropriate bay, but it will mean buying the entire village. The whole cast become Americans for this segment, which also has a complete change of style, particularly in dance. It has extremely fast moving interplay, and is a directorial and choreographic triumph. The air journey was worthy of applause on its own.
Before he leaves Texas, Mac has to see Happer, the CEO. Happer is obsessed with comets, and has heard that Ferness has a perfect unpolluted sky for comets – he wants one named after him. An aside … astronomer fans of the film have named an asteroid after the film character.
Music covers the set change for Scotland, with all involved.
Mac arrives to be greeted by three locals at the bar. We’re in the pub / hotel, owned by wheeler-dealer, Gordon (Paul Higgins), with Stella (Lillie Flynn) as the chef, and she is a Glaswegian, not a local. Gordon and stella appear practising the tango. Gordon is the village accountant, lawyer, publican and general leader. Stella being Glaswegian is important … the locals see years, generations, of the young folk leaving, and the decline of fishing. Having come from the city, Stella can see the romance and beauty of this isolated area.
The story revolves around Mac’s growing fascination with the village, and his attraction to Stella. Stella introduces him to Ben (Hilton McRae) a beachcomber, who also has a family astronomical register stretching back two hundred years.
Mac gets everyone to agree with the deal to sell the village in its entirety, and there’s a massive celebration with a lengthy ceilidh. The violinist and accordion player come down from the two band areas above the stage, and become part of the village. Every one of the villagers has established a strong separate identity, though I can’t swear to name them correctly.
A drunken Ben phones Mr Happer to tell him about the astronomy records. The production is faithful to 1983. Pay phones that take coins. No mobile phones, though Mac is inordinately proud of his digital watch.
Act two opens with the morning after with every variety of drunken hangover on display. It was all very funny.
Then Stella and Ben manage screw the deal up. Ben’s family has a 500 year old document which means he owns the beach and he refuses to sell, and Stella takes him to Edinburgh to find it. The villagers are angry. They have got used to the idea of being filthy rich and moving away.
Meanwhile, both Mac and Gordon have a thing about Stella. Lillie Flynn is a good example of astute casting … we had seen her not only at The Watermill, but singing with her actor / singer brother Johnny Flynn to tens of thousands in Hyde Park. The surprise for film fans is that having lost Marina, Stella then becomes a much more important character in the stage version.
There are machinations as the villagers try to solve the Ben issue, but as it continues, Mac is losing interest in the deal. Mr Happer arrives searching for his comet and all is resolved though not with a predictable or trite ending. I hope that was minimal on plot spoilers.
When the ensemble join in singing (as they do en masse), there’s a pop sensibility in the choruses (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) too. Gabriel Ebert and Lillie Flynn have pedigree as singers, but add Jackie Morrison as Mistress Fraser. Mistress Fraser is enamoured of Viktor (Joshua Manning) the Russian fishing boat captain and is given her own major singing number.
The quality of the music separates the production … Mark Knopfler is one of the elite late 20th century singer / songwriters with Dire Straits and afterwards. He has captured that Gaelic Scots / Irish musical mood perfectly, and when he does a musical dancing and singing number, it’s never standard 50s / 60s style classic musical fare. Reading the reviews, a surprising number failed to understand the quality. All credit to Susannah Clapp in The Observer who DID get it.
Compare the song list with the film soundtrack. It’s very different:
Film soundtrack:
The musical …
I particularly liked Cheerio Away We Go from Ben and Stella- as one of the locals points out gleefully, Cheerio and Away We Go is Gaelic for ‘Fuck off.’ The F-word is used very sparingly indeed, and therefore is more effective when it does appear.
I Wonder if I Can Go Home Again is a gorgeous song in its own right as well as being an ear worm. Mark Knopfler knows that you reprise melodies, so that people have a chance to hang on to them.
The band play Going Home long after the encores as we file out.
OVERALL
A definitive five star production for both of us. We looked at reviews and couldn’t understand anyone giving it less. I guess a week of extra stage time may have given it the snap and precision we so admired. Maybe it wasn’t quite there on press night. I guess we had disliked the Famous Five re-think over the road at the Festival Theatre stage, so maybe critics had too much of the 1983 film in their minds. We spoke to people on the way out and they had the same buzz as us, that this was one of the highlights of an extremely good year at Chichester.
It’s running to 19th November. I predict a London run.
*****
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID
four star
Nick Ferris, The Telegraph, ****
Patrick Marmion, The Daily Mail, ****
three star
Dominic Maxwell, The Times ***
Susannah Clapp, The Observer ***
It is Mark Knopfler’s music that makes landscape and steers the audience from the States to Scotland, with electric and acoustic guitar, double bass, fiddle and – hurrah – accordion. The bleakness of Rocks and Water has a lingering beauty. Filthy Dirty Rich has a boisterous sticking quality. The tanginess of the band – no big swooping strings – is like a spray of salt washing the traditional musical.
Susannah Clapp, The Observer
Tim Bano, The Stage ***
Every element is great. Lovely performances from Paul Higgins as local barman-cum-hotelier-cum-accountant-cum-lawyer Gordon; from Gabriel Ebert as puppyish oil exec Mac, who falls in love with the town of Ferness; and from Lillie Flynn as Stella, a character given a much bigger role than in the film, who has a wonderful voice.
Tom Bano, The Stage
two star
Arifa Akbar, The Guardian **
LINKS ON THIS BLOG
DANIEL EVANS
South Pacific, Chichester, 2021
This My Family, Chichester 2019
Me and My Girl, Chichester 2018
Quiz, by James Graham, Chichester 2017
Forty Years On by Alan Bennett, Chichester 2017
American Buffalo, by David Mamet, Wyndham’s Theatre, London
LILLIE FLYNN
Macbeth, Watermill, 2019
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Watermill 2018
Fantastic Mr Fox, Nuffield Southampton 2016 (Mrs Fox)
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit (Hyde Park, 2018) MUSIC
HILTON McRAE
Timon of Athens, National Theatre 2012
JACKIE MORRISON
Coriolanus, RSC 2017
Peter Viney's Blog 
Leave a Reply