REVIEW: Hope Mill Theatre presents LIZZIE at Southwark Playhouse 26 Oct – 2 Dec 2023

‘A rip-roaring triumph; a must-see for both rock and true-crime lovers’ ★★★★ ½

If you want some entertainment and escapism in these wet & miserable evenings, LIZZIE - the musical might be just the ticket. It's not about Elizabeth Taylor or Queen Elizabeth, but Lizzie Borden who, in 1892, Massachusetts, USA, was accused of taking an axe to both parents and controversially acquitted. There was a popular children’s rhyme about it at the time. Lizzie Borden took an axe/ And gave her mother forty whacks / When she saw what she had done/ she gave her father forty-one.

The bloody annihilation of one’s parents might seem a depressing subject for a musical, but Lizzie is a rip-roaring triumph. If you enjoy throat-blistering vocals, and electric guitars that set your fillings on edge, this production is a must-see. A slice of criminal mythology married with a big country American rock score is performed live by an energetic six-piece band. While tucked behind the scenes, these nimble-fingered musos can be seen pounding at their instruments on discreet screens dotted around the theatre. 

This Lizzie, (and there have been several incarnations on stage and screen) is a sympathetic character. Much is made of the sexual abuse she was rumoured to have suffered at the hands of her wealthy father, who we never see, but grows in our imagination as a monstrous predator. There’s also Lizzie’s sapphic relationship with her friend Alice and her love of pigeons, who speak to some underlying themes of entrapment and liberation.

It’s a wonderfully energising, funny and camp production (1 hour and 40 minutes with a 20-minute interval) The incriminating axe is spotlighted in the opening scene and when later, Lizzie appears in a prairie dress and hobnail boots, looking like Stephen King’s Carrie after the pig blood prom, the audience were delighted by this gruesome vision. In this interpretation, double parricide is not only funny but wholly understandable.

The director, choreographer and CEO of Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre, William Welton has done an impressive job of assembling a creative team and potent ensemble of kick-ass females. These all-singing, all-dancing, all-stomping, all flouncing, all-bellowing women, are a powerful proposition. All the performers are equally strong and complement each other with both their range in voice, leg kicks and rocking routines. This is a terrific piece of theatrical storytelling with only one song that seems surplus to requirements.

It’s not surprising Lizzie has become a cult classic in theatre’s rock musical genre. Originally performed in 2009 at the Living Theatre in New York, it has since seen 100 productions in 10 languages in six different countries. What a thrill that London’s theatre goers can experience this belting phenomenon, South of the River at Southwark Playhouse’s newest theatre at the Elephant which opened in January 2023. With a fantastic atmosphere, several bars and a full range of Tayto crisps, what more can you ask?

Photos by Pamela Raith

LIZZIE – A TRUE CRIME ROCK MUSICAL by Steven Cheslik-de Meyer, TimManer and Alan Stevens Hewitt

Southwark Theatre

26 Oct – 2 Dec 2023

Box Office https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/lizzie/

Cast:

Lauren Drew plays Lizzie

Maiya Quansah-Breed

Shekinah McFarlane

Mairi Barclay

Ayesha Patel

Emma Louise Hoey

Creatives:

Music by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt

Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner

Book by Tim Maner

Additional Music by Tim Maner

Additional Lyrics by Alan Stevens Hewitt

Based on an original concept by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner Orchestrations by Alan Stevens Hewit

Reviewed by Nilgin Yusuf