Piaf

www.piaf.blackwingedcreatives.com

Before this production, I didn't know that the Charing Cross Theatre existed, so it was a lovely little find, courtesy of TimeOut and a theatre that transported me back to my hometown.

Edith Piaf is one of the few artists I own on vinyl and upon listening to her, I feel I can almost open my eyes to find myself in 1930s - 1940s France. I expected that very same feeling from this production of Pam Gems' Piaf. 

It took a while to warm to the odd cockney tones of our leading lady, oo moov'd from rymin sla-ang to Français at odd intervals that never really felt natural - a bit like that sentence. It would have been better to do away with the obvious attempt at placing Piaf in the lower class, so that the French accent didn't appear as erratic as it began to feel.

britishtheatre.com

The budget seemed small, using physical theatre and mime to enact car crashes, minimal sets and multi-rolling that made relationships difficult to follow. It was hard to tell scene from scene, to follow time, to track locations but at least there was one thing right - the casting of the lead was brilliant. Accent aside, Cameron Leigh nailed Piaf's vocal style and her belting solos smashed to the back wall of the auditorium. They were the best moments of the show for me (although I would have loved for her to hold the notes at the end of the songs a little more).

londonliving.at

Valerie Cutko was a memorable and classy Marlene Dietrich portraying the warmth and sometimes pity that she felt for Edith. (Although even that was confusing as she appears also, as nurse and as Madeleine). Samantha Spurgin was great as lifelong friend Toine, with her hearty giggles and shameless vulgarity. She seemed to ground the piece as one of the few characters that appeared and reappeared throughout. In fact, the many men in Piaf's life seemed to fade into the background a little - given that the text did not allow any of them to make any real impact. They are easily forgettable.

I would have liked to have had more time, to take in these characters - perhaps director Jari Laakso could have suggested a few more distinguishing characteristics or indeed, cast more actors to play the roles. It seems like blasphemy to call a show about our little sparrow anything but divine but there was just something lacking in spirit I think, even if the general demeanour and physicality of Leigh's Piaf was authentic. It wasn't the leading lady, just the script moves so quickly through time that it was impossible to ever clutch to a moment that moved you. It's like a crash course on Piaf's life, that leaves us walking away a little bewildered. Perhaps the key to Piaf is simplicity, she said a lot in her songs and we don't need to hear the whole story of her life crammed into two hours onstage. We didn't need to see it all.

twitter.com

An applaudable effort and one that certainly celebrated the vivacious nature of Edith Piaf and her complete undying need to sing. If her health diminished, her spirit and voice did not. If the text didn't quite achieve much else than portraying just that - then perhaps that's ok. Or at least it is with me - je ne regrette rien.

theguardian.com