I once again found myself at The Other Palace last night for the next "From Page to Stage" production. This time it was Rebel Song, a staged reading of a new musical.
Based on the book At Swim, Two Boys, it tells the tale of Jim, played here by Rob Houchen, and Doyler, Alan McHale - childhood friends who had grown apart when Doyler left begin to reconnect before and during Ireland's 1916 Easter Rising. Jim is young and naive, Doyler a socialist and working with the Citizen Army; even without knowing the story beforehand, from the outset, you had a pretty good idea this tale wasn't going to have a happy ending.
Houchen and McHale work well together and enabled you to connect with their two characters, particularly so in act 2 as their characters developed. The end of the show had people around me in tears, and rightly so. Considering this was a staged reading, with the Irish flag and a wedding ring being the only props actually used throughout, you still felt you were in Ireland in 1916, watching this story unfold.
Clodagh Long as Nancy, also deserves a mention as the servant girl who finds herself pregnant out of wedlock. Her voice had a beautiful pure quality which worked well with the musical style used throughout this production. The majority the score had an Irish folk sound, helping set the scene of an Irish town.
Overall though, there was no weak member of the cast - every performer clearly understood the character they were meant to be playing, especially considering the limited rehearsal time and the fact this is a very new production with scripts still in hand. I felt very fortunate to be watching the initial bare bones of a production that I feel has potential and, with a little more development, will hopefully become something more.
I look forward to seeing what becomes of its future and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for news.
Based on the book At Swim, Two Boys, it tells the tale of Jim, played here by Rob Houchen, and Doyler, Alan McHale - childhood friends who had grown apart when Doyler left begin to reconnect before and during Ireland's 1916 Easter Rising. Jim is young and naive, Doyler a socialist and working with the Citizen Army; even without knowing the story beforehand, from the outset, you had a pretty good idea this tale wasn't going to have a happy ending.
Houchen and McHale work well together and enabled you to connect with their two characters, particularly so in act 2 as their characters developed. The end of the show had people around me in tears, and rightly so. Considering this was a staged reading, with the Irish flag and a wedding ring being the only props actually used throughout, you still felt you were in Ireland in 1916, watching this story unfold.
Clodagh Long as Nancy, also deserves a mention as the servant girl who finds herself pregnant out of wedlock. Her voice had a beautiful pure quality which worked well with the musical style used throughout this production. The majority the score had an Irish folk sound, helping set the scene of an Irish town.
Overall though, there was no weak member of the cast - every performer clearly understood the character they were meant to be playing, especially considering the limited rehearsal time and the fact this is a very new production with scripts still in hand. I felt very fortunate to be watching the initial bare bones of a production that I feel has potential and, with a little more development, will hopefully become something more.
I look forward to seeing what becomes of its future and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for news.