An inspirational story told by an uninspired musical
Marie Curie’s portrait adorns many “Great Scientists” classroom displays, and rightly so. She is the only person to win two Nobel prizes in distinct scientific fields, and the first woman ever to scoop the award. Her name lives on in the periodic table – both literally in Curium, and in her discovery of the radioactive elements Radium and Polonium (“putting Poland on the map”) – and modern-day radiotherapy owes much to her research. Hers is a life well worth profiling.
However, Curie’s ground-breaking achievements are incongruous with this musical about her life, which seems unwilling to take the risks and make the innovations that characterised her work. Consequently, an engaging narrative ends up glossing over many of its most interesting points, interspersing plot elements with a cookie-cutter soundtrack straight out of “generic musical #5”.
The show’s greatest asset is undoubtedly Curie’s compelling life story. Her efforts to be taken seriously as a Polish woman in science are genuinely captivating, and she is a convincing advocate for its power. Ailsa Davidson portrays this passion effectively. It’s a shame that a show built around this ends up being so forgettable, avoiding nuance in order to build Curie up as a one-dimensional heroic figure rather than the complex person she really was.
The production does pick up towards its conclusion, with Curie grappling with what her legacy will be and the songs becoming more ambitious, but this reminds the audience of how long the journey has been to get here. Curie wins her Nobel prize 35 minutes into the show, but the meat of the narrative – should her research be stopped in the face of undeniable suffering, or keep pushing towards a possible cancer cure? – only really kicks in for the final quarter. This intellectual and moral struggle does not get the attention it deserves, leaving less of an impression on the audience than it should.
Rose Montgomery’s set effervesces with equations, but it is disappointing to see that some of these are incorrect and many irrelevant to what Curie is working on at the time. Although a small nit-pick – nobody goes to the theatre to check the maths! – it symbolises a lack of attention to detail which pockmarks Marie Curie: The Musical’s staging. The choreography feels generic, blurring into the background, and much more could be made of Curie’s inner-turmoil with lighting, sound and use of space. What should be a cinematic story of overcoming hardship lacks the flourishes that would drive the narrative forward.
There are moments when the production shines, including an energetic battling duet, and Chrissie Bhima’s heartfelt performance as Curie’s friend Anne. However, whilst the Radium which helped make Curie’s name fizzes with energy, this telling of its story feels more like a damp squib. Marie Curie: The Musical is neither informed enough to be educational, nor fun enough to get away with such a broad-brush narrative. Unlike the story it tells, this production is highly forgettable.
Marie Curie: The Musical plays at the Charing Cross Theatre until 28th July Tuesday-Sunday, with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees. Tickets can be purchased here.