90 minutes of wonderful, historically (in)accurate chaos
A rousing applause welcomed an energetic foursome of Sam Trotman, Finn Tickel, Caoimhe de Brún and Harrison Macdonald-Taylor to the Studio stage at New Wimbledon Theatre on Friday night for the debut of this new musical, ‘The Dance Plague of 1518’. Writers Trotman and Tickel and director Alex Maxwell hope to see it soar at the Camden Fringe festival this Summer. I have no doubt it will do so. It was relentlessly witty, jam-packed with historical inaccuracy and completely stupid, in the most charming sense. It’s a 90 minute musical comedy, awkwardly aware of itself and fantastically meta. The opening: a GCSE-style performance piece, an overbearing director and then a single note sounds from the heavens. The chaos begins.
An empty set, save a single office chair upstage and temporary wings propped up for the endless costume changes, was home to a host of hilarious characters. Trotman excelled in his various roles, from camp and creepy high priest to village idiot (etc), he commanded the stage, captivated the audience and brought in the laughs with buckets of charisma. I particularly enjoyed his priest solo and many well-timed glances at the audience. He interacted excellently throughout the piece and I even felt they all could have capitalised more on the very reactive crowd. Both writers’ passion for this piece was clear throughout. Fellow writer Tickel’s character work was also brilliant, shifting costumes and accents galore. The two stars of the ‘play within the play’, de Brún and Macdonald-Taylor gave assured performances, vocally and comedically. De Brún took on a typical princess role and ran with it, bringing an energetic and joyful lightness, also taking on comedy side characters with skill. Macdonald-Taylor was endearing and cheeky, especially in musical numbers (I particularly enjoyed ‘Orgy In A Field!).
Songs were funny, musically impressive and cleverly placed. A variation of styles and genres helped the brilliantly pacy play flow smoothly. Pretty much every joke landed well, crammed with historical references and pop culture ‘Easter eggs’. The piece slightly lagged at the hour mark, losing some momentum as the denouement ensued. The first two thirds of the piece were explosive, with new characters emerging all the time; the challenge now is to continue this energy as we get to know the characters in depth. Perhaps some clearer and more precise movement direction could really help take this musical to the next level, adding consistent action to a wordy piece. Choreography was well-placed, but would shine with improved accuracy and a bit more magnitude.