TREASON THE MUSICAL - REVIEW - ALEXANDRA PALACE

Creating musical theatre around historic events has become an increasingly popular thing to do within the last few years, following on from the international successes of Hamilton and Six. However, it doesn’t always work, and unfortunately, that is the case with Treason the Musical.

Treason began its life as a 5 track EP in 2020, before a concert was globally streamed the following year. In 2022 the show was staged in a concert production at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and this year, the show has embarked on a mini tour, the first time the show has been staged in full. As the name suggests the musical focuses on the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the infamous unsuccessful attempt to kill King James I by a group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby. Although we still put Guy Fawkes on the bonfire each year, the story is largely forgotten for the most part, as seen here, Fawkes was just a part of this group, and there are many other stories to tell about the other members.

Philip Witcomb’s wooden set aptly replicates the period, and beautifully incorporates Jason Taylor’s tender lighting, with lights shining through the wood, and candles galore – it truly is beautiful to look at. However, there is a gap at the top of the set, through which you can see outside, behind the stage, which is distracting, and cheapens the looks somewhat.

Ricky Allan’s score is vast, there are a lot of musical numbers within the show, yet they unfortunately lack variety, and I struggle to recall any particular songs as I sit to write this review. For half of the first Act, there is a sparse amount of choreography incorporated. Overall, many of the songs are slowed down in tempo, meaning the dancing is contemporary style and drawn out. There were also sections with just a couple of dancers and this could have been tighter and more in sync. Set pieces, mostly tables and chairs, are brought on and off throughout, but the main set stays the same for most of the show, which causes the production to feel rather static, which impedes the pacing. The transitions into songs also feel clunky. To aid pacing and to enable the audience to follow the plot, these transitions need to be finessed, and some songs can be cut without hindering the plot. Also, at the end of Act One bright lights flash, and I mean very bright, I had to look away, and on the Alexandra Palace website, there is no warning of this.

The performances are strong across the board, Nicole Raquel Dennis’ voice is powerful, and there are some beautiful harmonies. Oscar Conlon-Morrey’s charisma lights up the stage, he provides much-needed comic relief throughout and steals the show. Gabriel Akamo has an excellent stage presence, but feels like a background character as Fawkes, despite being the one person everyone knows of. His spoken word performance needs better diction, as from further back in the auditorium it was difficult to make out the lyrics.

One of the main issues with the production is that it lacks originality, it feels somewhere between Hamilton and Les Misérables, where it ought to be trying to be its own show. The drama and score feel reminiscent of Les Misérables, and the stylisation of the production, the ensemble dressed in neutral colours, the chair choreography, and even a small section of spoken word/rap, feel far too close to Hamilton.

I can see the vision of what this production is trying to do, but the event in history the show is focused upon doesn’t captivate attention for the 2 hours 20 minutes run time. The storytelling is confused throughout, with so many characters it is difficult to follow, and it’s unclear who we are supposed to root for, it simultaneously depicts the King and the Catholics both as the villains, and then even their wives. Plus, Britain is becoming increasingly unreligious, therefore the plot is unrelatable to people living in the 21st century – apart from hating the government – I think we can all relate to that.

Unfortunately, as the show is currently, despite excellent performances, I fear this may not be a show to remember, remember.

PHOTO CREDIT: DANNY KAAN

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

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