Back on August 14^th, I returned to the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park for I think my… 6^th visit all in, and 3^rd show overall to catch their revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel!

Originally premiering on Broadway in 1945, Carousel is an adaptation of the play “Liliom” by Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar, written in 1909. Moving the setting from Budapest to Maine, New England the story revolves around Billy Bigelow, a carousel barker and his romance with mill worker Julie Jordan. After a plan to provide for his growing family has fatal consequences, Billy is given a second chance to set things right. Featuring arguably some of the most beloved and well known songs in the musical theatre canon: “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, “If I Loved You” and “June Is Bustin Out All Over, Rodgers hailed it as his favourite of their collaborations, and I confess it’s probably mine too.

Lots of people have found my love for this show strange, given that it deals with domestic violence (and essentially excuses it) and it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge how flawed and problematic that makes it – of course it is, deeply so. And yet, I’ve always loved the score and have a fondness for the note of hope it strikes, as well as fond memories associated with the 1956 film version and even moreso the 2013 “Live from Lincoln Center” semi staged concert version with Nathan Gunn, my Broadway Queen Kelli O’Hara, Jessie Mueller, Jason Danieley and the glorious NY Philharmonic. I stumbled across it when it was available on Youtube for a time, ended up a weeping mess and forthwith bought the DVD and a region 1 player so I could keep it in my life. I regret nothing, but think its fair to say that Carousel has a rather rose tinted place in my heart…

For this new revival though, that rose tinted hue is well and truly gritted over, and though I felt that elements of it weren’t for me for reasons I shall endeavour to explain throughout, I’m grateful to the cast and creatives for challenging me to think outside the box and endeavouring to give me a new way to connect with a piece I love so much.

Let’s start simply with the way director Timothy Sheader and team have refocused the lens in terms of the problematic theme. There are some harrowing stats in the programme:

• Between March 2019 and 2020 The Crime Survey for England and Wales reported that 1.6 million women and 757,000 men had experienced domestic violence with a 7% increase in this type of crime being recorded by police.
• During the first lockdown (April – June 2020, there was a 65% increase in calls to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline when compared to first three months of the year.
• According to a study by London School of Economics and Met Police – 8.1% increase in abuse from current partners, and a 17.1% increase from family members.
• In evidence given to the justice committee, Vera Baird QC, Victim’s Commissioner for Eng and Wales said that domestic abuse was going to be an “epidemic within the pandemic”.

And therein, you have the main challenge I felt this production wanted to address: how do you explore this, and make it relevant to audiences today? And the way they’ve done that is by placing the women of the piece centre stage and give them more of a voice. To begin the show, there’s striking choreography (as there is throughout- more on that soon!) from Drew McOnie wherein you get powerful movement from both sexes, but traditional gender roles are reinforced – girls are reprimanded for trying to play with the boys, and a boy gets his handkerchief taken away, and the women end up in the men’s arms. By the end of the show, that power balance has shifted and it’s the women who have fought hard to be heard. The action, moved again this time from Maine to somewhere ambiguously Northern and the fact the cast speak in their own accents, gives an interesting edge, I especially loved hearing Christina Modestou’s Welsh, but sometimes felt this jarred with the original material, and felt it didn’t really add much to proceedings.

Tom Scutt’s simplistic set – a wooden revolve flanked by a ridged slope is accented only by a few props, and the costume design from Molly Einchcomb (co designed by Scott) also help strike a gritty, naturalistic note in keeping with the sense of realism and relevance – even though I longed for the colour and vibrancy I associate with this show!

That being said, this version of Carousel finds it’s vibrancy in other ways: I think the jewel in the creative crown is MD Tom Deering’s bold new take on the orchestrations: he’s stripped back the strings in favour of a brass band, electric guitars and glass harmonicas, and the result is incredible, it has a new, refreshing character to it and made me appreciate the score I ADORE so much in a whole host of new, entirely thrilling ways.

As I said before: once more Drew McOnie’s choreography shines, there’s a real sense of power, sensuality and danger to it that kept me engaged, I particularly enjoyed Louise’s (played at my performance by Amie Hibbert) ballet sequence that Billy watches: it sees his sixteen year old in danger of not only bullying but sexual assault. Louise and her “beau” perform the dance amidst Carousel poles (an addition that I loved) and it’s a powerful nod to the production’s intent; as is Billy’s being questioned and held accountable for his conduct by a chorus of women in place of the Starkeeper and the removal of dialogue comparing a slap to a kiss.

Though some of the creative choices weren’t for me, I’d be hard pressed to fault the ambition and execution at play, because the cast are strong across the board. Carly Bawden, who I last saw at my local in Romantics Anonymous is a tenderly endearing Julie and I found her arc to be the most engaging throughout as she moves through love to heartbreak at dizzying speed. Vocally, “What’s The Use Of Wond’rin was a highlight of my experience – it felt so moving and beautifully raw.

I think the biggest struggle I had with this production was the way Billy is stripped of what Julie finds endearing. Let’s be clear, I know he is not meant to be a likeable character: he abuses his wife, and is quick to anger. He’s also very quick to passion and love, and often we see either of those extremes. It’s in those “in between” moments that Julie finds what nobody else sees in Billy and I didn’t find enough of those moments here to want to look at him in the way Julie does. The ending is also trimmed and altered so Billy doesn’t get his chance at redemption or the chance to say “I love you” which is essentially the entire arc for these two, and while that’s refreshing and so important for the way the team are framing this revival and the message more generally, it felt like the emotional impact was dulled, because that hopeful note was lost.

I’ve been privileged to see Declan Bennett play three very different roles now, and he always surprises me. Though Billy here is definitely edgier and more contemporary than I’m used to, Declan cuts a compelling figure even with my misgivings, and as always helps me to find refreshing nuances in how he interprets his songs.

Elsewhere, Christina Modestou delights as Julie’s dear friend Carrie Pipperidge, whose chemistry with John Pfumojena’s straight laced, kindly Enoch Snow gives some welcome, much needed contrast to Billy and Julie’s relationship. Warmth and wit also radiate in Joanna Riding’s Nettie Fowler. Herself Julie Jordan in the National’s production back in the nineties, it’s a joy watching her bridge the gap into this more modern piece: she moves so seamlessly from the comedy to the heart: her rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” pulled at my heartstrings and got the biggest applause of the day!

As a self confessed Rodgers & Hammerstein “purist”, this production wasn’t always my cup of tea, but I’m grateful that yet again the Open Air continue to produce bold, inventive takes on classics that will always challenge me.

Carousel runs at Open Air Theatre until 25^th September