The Season review – chutzpah and charm in New York romcom
Clare Brennan
Updated
New Wolsey theatre, IpswichNewcomers Jim Barne and Kit Buchan have written a classic Christmas romance enhanced by confident production. “Even impossible dreams come true,” sings the wonderstruck Dougal in this new musical that is itself a seemingly impossible dream. Its tyro writers, childhood friends Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, deploy the bare basics of a single set, a cast of two and a three-strong band to create a classic, New York Christmas Day romcom, with scenes set in JFK airport, Brooklyn, Central Park, Macy’s, Chinatown... also subway rides, street dancing, ice-skating and a high-kicking, pre-interval walk-down number. Hubris threatens, but chutzpah wins through. The emotional objective of the action takes a double focus. On Christmas Eve, young Brit Dougal (tiggerish Alex Cardall) arrives in the Big Apple for the first time, invited to the wedding of the father he has never met. His over-enthusiasm for the city he recognises from its film incarnations grates on native New Yorker and Grinch-like sister-of-the-bride Robin (Tori Allen-Martin, hard-boiled, soft-centred), sent to collect him. Two relationships appear possible, father-son; boy-girl: will one or both work out? And there’s a time pressure: Dougal has only 36 hours before his return flight. Barne and Buchan were winners of the 2018 Stiles and Drewe mentorship award, and the benefits show. A naive quality to the overall feel is achieved through sophisticated means: solid structuring (a touch too mechanical at times) and clever musicality (a pastiche duet of Christmas songs signals possible connections; a drum beat builds the anger of an argument). The writing (one crass, unnecessary plot twist excepted) is witty and well-served by the production. Amy Jane Cook’s spare design offers multiple surprises. Tim Jackson’s direction is sure-footed and, in Allen-Martin and Cardall, he has young performers who are surely stars in the making. On only its fourth performance, the show is yet to fully play in – it’s still a little over-frenetic at times, not quite relaxing into its strengths – but, even so, this particular Grinch was won over by a promising blend of audacity, charm and talent. . The Season is at the New Wolsey theatre, Ipswich, until 16 November; then at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, 19-30 November
“Even impossible dreams come true,” sings the wonderstruck Dougal in this new musical that is itself a seemingly impossible dream. Its tyro writers, childhood friends Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, deploy the bare basics of a single set, a cast of two and a three-strong band to create a classic, New York Christmas Day romcom, with scenes set in JFK airport, Brooklyn, Central Park, Macy’s, Chinatown... also subway rides, street dancing, ice-skating and a high-kicking, pre-interval walk-down number. Hubris threatens, but chutzpah wins through.
The emotional objective of the action takes a double focus. On Christmas Eve, young Brit Dougal (tiggerish Alex Cardall) arrives in the Big Apple for the first time, invited to the wedding of the father he has never met. His over-enthusiasm for the city he recognises from its film incarnations grates on native New Yorker and Grinch-like sister-of-the-bride Robin (Tori Allen-Martin, hard-boiled, soft-centred), sent to collect him. Two relationships appear possible, father-son; boy-girl: will one or both work out? And there’s a time pressure: Dougal has only 36 hours before his return flight.
Barne and Buchan were winners of the 2018 Stiles and Drewe mentorship award, and the benefits show. A naive quality to the overall feel is achieved through sophisticated means: solid structuring (a touch too mechanical at times) and clever musicality (a pastiche duet of Christmas songs signals possible connections; a drum beat builds the anger of an argument). The writing (one crass, unnecessary plot twist excepted) is witty and well-served by the production. Amy Jane Cook’s spare design offers multiple surprises. Tim Jackson’s direction is sure-footed and, in Allen-Martin and Cardall, he has young performers who are surely stars in the making. On only its fourth performance, the show is yet to fully play in – it’s still a little over-frenetic at times, not quite relaxing into its strengths – but, even so, this particular Grinch was won over by a promising blend of audacity, charm and talent.
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