For the European premiere of Head Over Heels, Gartland Productions have chosen Hope Mill Theatre as venue, and it is easy to see why. The show has Hope Mill written all over it; a quirky, upbeat, inclusive piece that overflows with energy, it is hard to think of a more appropriate space to stage it.
The musical, adapted by James Magruder, via Jeff Whitty’s original book and concept, from Sir Philip Sydney’s The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, is a picaresque romp through an imagined historical landscape. It crazily sets the prose of an Elizabethan Arcadia to the beat of ‘80s punk rock, with a score assembled from the back catalogue of The Go-Go’s and, just as crazily, it actually works.
The Arcadian King Basilius finds the orderly life of his kingdom threatened by a prophesy from the oracle, and sets out with his court to avert disaster. In this version of the unlikely tale, it is the beat to which everything dances that is threatened with extinction – cue the music!
Director/choreographer Tom Jackson Greaves is keen to highlight in his programme note that the work chimes heavily with contemporary imbalances of power and equality. Certainly the production has a lot to say about the subtexts of queer culture and gender identity, but the drum bangs most loudly for the sheer joy of the music. Here, almost certainly, is the show’s biggest strength – you are swept along so irresistibly by the beat that the deeper messages of the show hit home without the text having to dwell too heavily on them.
Hope Mill’s stage is stripped back to the maximum in Sophia Pardon’s minimalist design, making the intimate space feel huge, and Jackson Greaves’ choreography explodes to fill it. An exceptional cast is led by Fed Zanni as King Basilius, and there are standout performances from Luke Bayer as Musidorus, Maiya Quansah-Breed as Philoclea and Jenny O’Leary as Pamela. Musical director Arlene McNaught keeps the pulse going almost constantly from the onstage band, which vamps along under the dialogue in between the musical numbers. No less than 18 songs are woven together for the show’s soundtrack and they drive the narrative rather more successfully than many a jukebox musical. Aside from the title track ‘Head Over Heels’, other musical highlights are ‘Beautiful’, ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ and ‘Our Lips are Sealed’, and of course the show reaches its triumphant conclusion with the euphoric ‘We Got the Beat’.
You could break this show into as many pieces as you like and would discover that it has ‘Love’ written all the way through it like a stick of rock. The infectious enthusiasm and irresistible rhythm sweep you off your feet, suspending all disbelief in the raffish storyline. Here the passion of RENT meets the quirkiness of Pippin, and with such a great ensemble of triple-threat performers it makes the floor shake with its energy.
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| The cast of Head Over Heels - Photo © Pamela Raith |
Star rating: Four Stars
This review was originally written for Musical Theatre Review
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