A fascinating story performed brilliantly. Catch a Ride to see this show as soon as possible!
Ride is a new British musical performed first in March 2020 (before the world closed down) and currently showing at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant.
This show is set in 1894 and tells the story of Annie Londonderry, the first woman to cycle around the world. She is an eccentric character who I can guarantee you will be enamoured by, and if you are anything like me, you will go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole after the show learning more about her.
It is written by Freya Catrin Smith and Jack Williams, directed by Sarah Meadows, and starring Liv Andruiser as Annie Londonderry and Katy Ellis as Martha Smith. However, when I saw the show, it was Fallon Mondlane, who understudies both roles, who performed the role of Annie Londonderry. And she was absolutely brilliant. I am refusing to be coy about this show or hold anything back, this show is fantastic and must be seen by as many people as possible.
Fallon Mondlane gave one of the best musical theatre performances I have ever seen, in what is an extremely demanding role. Her vocals were brilliant throughout, even during some rather demanding and complex choreography, and her acting performance was absolutely stellar. As she understudies both roles, I would be fascinated to see her play Martha, as to me, she now just is Annie Londonderry. I need to impress upon you as much as possible, just how impressive of a performance this was by Fallon Mondlane and I am sure she must have the brightest of futures ahead of her.
This show is a 2-hander with two very demanding roles, and Katy Ellis did an exceptional job playing Martha. Martha, as a character, plays many other characters which Katy Ellis was able to do with aplomb. In particular her characterisation of Celine the French administrator was hilarious, and the subtle moving between characters was expertly done.
As this is a musical it would be remiss of me not to talk about the songs. The songs are great. I have to give a special mention to “Miles Away From Boston” which is an excellent love song performed brilliantly. I have had the entire soundtrack on repeat since I saw the show and I highly recommend that you give it a listen. If you just want to get a feel for the show, I recommend you listen to “Ride”, “Across America” and “Miles Away From Boston”.
The set by Amy Jane Cook, and Lighting by Jamie Platt are very clever in this production. The stage at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant is quite small, and every inch was cleverly used to tell this story. The tonal shift that occurs towards the latter half of the show is played brilliantly by both actresses, but the set and lighting changes helped to create an incredibly effective atmosphere. The small space was ingeniously utilised and really helped to draw you into the story.
The choreography and movement, by Natasha Harrison was pitch perfect for this show. Some of the dancing sequences were delightfully classic Broadway in style and were reminiscent of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in moments. The blocking of this show was incredibly tight and the movement near constant which gives this show tremendous energy. This helped to make the tonal shift even more jarring and effective as everything slows down and you are absolutely present in the moment.
In case I have not made it obvious enough, this is a wonderful 5 star show and I absolutely recommend that anyone and everyone go and see it. I myself have already arranged to return with friends as I am determined to share this fantastic show with as many people as possible. I sincerely hope this show has a bright future as it is a shining beacon of British musical theatre and deserves huge audiences.
Ride is playing at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 12th August.