This scene, the creation of a garden on stage, is one of the most visually striking moments in London Road
I have seen a lot of theatre in my life, so I find that I am rarely surprised; Canadian Stage’s production of London Road surprised me. The play is billed as a musical documentary that examines the murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich, England in 2006. Road takes you through the events of the bodies being discovered, the fear and uncertainty within the community, the eventual arrest of Steve Wright, and finally the coming together of the people of London Road where Wright was arrested.
British playwright, Alecky Blythe interviewed many of the residents that were affected by the unexpected national coverage of their quaint, rural neighbourhood. When she created the piece, she implemented a verbatim technique, including coughs, pauses, nervous uhm’s, ah’s and laughs. In essence, she incorporated normal, everyday speech patterns which are usually excluded in the writing of a piece. This musical goes one step further because composer Adam Cork also used some of the melodic aspects of the speech patterns to create his musical score.
Jackie Maxwell decided to utilize the technique created by Blythe for the show and had her performer’s learn the show by listening to and repeating the original recordings of the interviews and attempting to match the sounds, inflections and beats as precisely as possible. The results are captivating. The stellar ensemble goes beyond presenting characters. They seem to truly inhabit these individuals. I didn’t feel like I was watching a play but rather sitting alongside a unique and idiosyncratic community in England. Often in a show, there will be performances that shine more brightly. Not here, the cast uniformly alights the stage. There were so many inspired moments on stage; I can’t even begin to mention them all here.
Judith Bowden’s set and costume design for London Road were striking. She used photos and news coverage for inspiration and created a realistic looking street scene with a large black and white projection of a small town street as a backdrop. The stage floor had an abstract masking tape design that conjured up thoughts of a police crime scene. Set pieces and props were wheeled in and out to create living spaces, pubs, and coffee shops. One of the most striking images was the creation of a garden with many hanging plants descending from the ceiling as the cast sang one of the more upbeat numbers. Bowden’s costumes captured the spirit of a small town and were the types of outfits I would expect to see if I visited rural England.
Reza Jacobs’ musical direction was sublime and he honours Adam Cork’s jarring composition. These aren’t your regular show tunes, yet I can’t stop humming the music. Kevin LaMotte’s lighting design perfectly complements the ever changing and complex moods created on stage.
London Road is going to sit with me for a while. It was truly inspirational to see something so unique executed so precisely and movingly. This show might not appeal to everyone’s sensibility but I found it positively enthralling and an absolute treasure.
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