The curious case of Stereophonic
Is durational drama welcome in the West End? Is Alice Birch's exploration of masculinity any good? Is the RSC outcompeting the NT? All in this week's issue of Shouts and Murmurs from The Crush Bar.
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Previously in The Crush Bar:
Welcome back to The Crush Bar. What have I been up to since the Edinburgh Fringe?
Well, I slept. I went on holiday. I attended the opening of the redeveloped Glasgow Citizens Theatre, which is truly stunning. I discovered this forum discussing theatre critics, in which one user describes this newsletter as being “worth every penny.” I groaned at the expensive spectacle of the Spotlight-Equity lawsuit and at the Royal Shakespeare Company resorting to redundancies to stay afloat in lieu of a Matilda-sized hit. I cheered at the news that Manchester Royal Exchange will stage Fun Home and that Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu will direct Chadwick Boseman’s Deep Azure at The Globe. And, last week, I caught David Adjmi’s Stereophonic in the West End.
It is great. Much has been made of the high-profile legal dispute surrounding the show that was settled out-of-court last year; less has been made of how remarkable a piece of theatre it is. A durational, naturalistic epic set in a gorgeously designed studio, the play examines both the agony of the creative process and the shifting social mores of the 1970s via the story of Fleetwood Mac a five-piece rock band recording Rumours a seminal album, and features both a cracking soundtrack and some superb performances: it is great to see Lucy Karczewski get a nod at The Stage’s Debut Awards. Sarah Hemming got it right when she called it "somewhere between Chekhov and the slow-burn dramas of Annie Baker” and gave it five stars.
I could not help noticing, though, that there were a surprising number of empty seats. The show did extend its run by six weeks in July, but it is now closing in November to make way for Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman In Mind with Sheridan Smith. That’s six months, which is extremely impressive for a play, but three fewer than it did on Broadway. The show is also off on a long tour of the US: that seems unlikely to happen here. Plus, ATG is reportedly offering a £20 discount for returning theatregoers: on Broadway, you had to scramble for tickets after its success at the Tony Awards. Could it be that Stereophonic is not doing as well in London as it is across the Atlantic?
If so, why? Perhaps it is because of the oddly lukewarm exception it got from some critics. Perhaps it is because, unlike most plays in the West End, it does not have a famous name involved in the cast or creative team, even though that is presumably what allowed it to do more than the usual 12-week run? Or does it have something to do with the fact that it is just not the type of work audiences look for in the West End?
Last week, the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre released the findings of a major survey into why audiences go to the theatre. It reveals that the number one reason audiences choose to go to the theatre is for “something entertaining, light-hearted, and fun”, followed by “connecting with family and friends.” Stereophonic, brilliant though it is, is far from light-hearted fun. Nor, in a show that stretches over three hours, is there much time for audiences to chat. Perhaps, for West End theatregoers, Stereophonic just does not seem like a good night out. Perhaps they think they can get enough repetitive arguments from the 1970s from the news.
Listen, fair play. I get it. Not everyone is a glutton for punishment. Not everyone wants to spend money on something unfamiliar. Not everyone enjoys fifteen-minute scenes in which a drummer gets increasingly irate over a rattle in his snare. I worry, though, what attitudes like that mean for the future of theatre if producers pay attention to them, because it would be a great shame if challenging work like Stereophonic was squeezed out in favour of stuff that is safer and softer and starrier. What would that mean for the theatrical food chain? What effect would that have on aspiring artists? And what would friendless fun-haters like me go and see then?
In other news: Giant is transferring to Broadway; Maimuna Memon’s Manic Street Creature and Martina Laird’s Driftwood will run at Kiln; Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding will run at the Lyric Hammersmith; Marianne Elliot and Rob Icke will headline an “in conversation” series at Underbelly Boulevard; revivals of Fallen Angels, The Holy Rosenbergs and Equus will run at the Menier Chocolate Factory; the shortlists for the Black British Theatre Awards, the UK Theatre Awards and The Speakies were announced; Adam Riches’ Jimmy and Karis Kelly’s Consumed are in the Park Theatre’s festive season; there will be stage adaptations of Bank Of Dave and High Noon.