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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewThe Scottsboro Boys
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"Justice is Just us!"
— Mr Bones
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Cast in The Scottsboro Boys
(Photo: Richard Hubert Smith) |
Then there is the comedy with which the tragedy is delivered — something that is hard for us to take. Thinking back to the then shockingly comic portrayal of Nazi Germany in Kander and Ebb's biggest hit Cabaret (or should that biggest hit be Chicago?) with its satirical delivery, the Scottsboro Boys takes this satire one step further and into a place which I, at times, found deeply uncomfortable. This is my only reservation about a show with wonderful music, dance, singing and dazzling performances.
For a history of the show, the storyline and songlist, in New York from The Vineyard Theatre and beyond go here. About half the cast have played their roles on Broadway and are American actors, the others have been recruited in London. Susan Stroman continues as director and choreographer and brings over the American Set, Costume and Lighting Designers. British actor Julian Glover takes over as the Master of Ceremonies or Interlocutor.
With the opening number of ragtime music, the cast fill from the auditorium showing loads of energy, enthusiasm and hope. They are showmen all with foot bumping and tambourine playing. We meet Mr Bones (Colman Dominge) and Mr Tambo (Forrest McClendon) two characters straight out of comedy music hall, one of which goes on to play the white sheriff.
Getting on the train in search of work are the nine boys who are accused by two girls played by two of the men in cloche hats and much simpering when the train stops in Scottsboro, Alabama. We meet Haywood Patterson (Kyle Scatliffe) whose 1950 biography "Scottsboro Boy" was one of the sources for the book of the musical. I was left asking why these two girls would lie about the rape. They two girls were migrant workers, hoboes like the accused men, who had been involved in a fight and made up this story to prevent the charges being made against them. The trials that follow are farcical if it were not that men's lives were at stake.
The contrast between the jokey style and life threatening events continues to shock and the tap dance with the strobe set around the electric chair has exciting and dramatic lighting effects. A sad slow ballad "Go Back Home" from Haywood and the boys is truly moving. A second trial brings renewed hope and the New York Jewish lawyer Samuel Leibowitz (Forrest McClendon). The tunes have a good variety with a mix of jazz styles, banjo and minstrel ballads. The set designer cleverly uses minimal aluminium and steel wheels and chairs to recreate trains and prison cells.
If you can overcome the satirical delivery of these very sad outcomes for the Scottsboro boys, you will be blown away by this last collaboration between Kander and Ebb, by the exhilarating dance and wonderful singing in this thrilling production.
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| The Scottsboro Boys
Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb Book by David Thompson Directed and Choreographed by Susan Stroman Starring: Adebayo Bolaji, Christian Dante White, Colman Dominge, Julian Glover, Dawn Hope, Idriss Kargbo, Forrest McClendon, Rohan Pinnock-Hamilton, Clinton Roane, Emile Ruddock, Carl Spencer, Kyle Scatliffe, James T Lane Set Design: Beowulf Boritt Costume Design: Toni-Leslie James Lighting Designer: Ken Billington Sound Designer: Paul Arditti Orchestrations: Larry Hochman Fight Director: Alison de Burgh Musical Director: Robert Scott Running time: One hour 50 minutes without an interval Box Office: 020 7922 2922 Booking to 26th April 2014 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 29th October 2013 performance at The Young Vic, 66 The Cut, London SE1 8LZ (Rail/Tube: Waterloo/Southwark) |
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