Review: FOR YOU I’D WAIT, Turbine Theatre
For You I’d Wait is a brand new musical from the duo Golby & West (Sophie Golby and Tom West), currently premiering at the Turbine Theatre. This marks their premiere work, having met at university and joined forces after discovering a mutual love of songwriting.
The musical markets itself as being inspired by the events of the terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris in 2015. However, this is, at the forefront, a piece about people navigating life before, during, and after an unimaginable tragedy. We meet three couples, each connected, with different relationship styles and at different stages. Their relationships progress to new stages, or diminish, throughout the show as the audience follows them up to and after the events of November 2015.
In a show about people, character development is hugely important and Golby & West’s six individuals feel real and believable to the audience. We meet Lily (Olivia Walker-Toward) and Nic (Michael Karl-Lewis), Dani (Gemma Pearce) and Reneé (Billie Kerr) and Christophe (Jerome Lincoln) and Eloise (Charlotte Hannan) as their paths tragically and humorously intertwine. This is undoubtedly a talented cast, but, at times, they feel consistently young and the show could benefit from some variety here to demonstrate the relationships portrayed more truthfully in the eyes of its audience.
Jerome Lincoln and Charlotte Hannan as Christophe and Eloise have particularly good chemistry together and their relationship seems the most believable, though the pacing between them can appear a little rushed.
In particular, Olivia Walker-Toward is extremely watchable any time she is on stage. We, as an audience, feel genuinely excited and disappointed as she experiences these emotions.
It is Billie Kerr who is the stand-out performer in this cast. She begins sarcastic and cold-hearted but throughout the show, we see her inner vulnerability emerge beautifully and Kerr tops it off with exceptional, effortless vocals. She delivers a powerful solo number in the second half, the showstopper of the musical, and she is certainly destined for a fantastic performance career.
Many of Golby & West’s other musical pieces do seem to follow the same formula as one another, leading to them coming across as slightly repetitive. They begin gently, build, then abruptly return to slow and thoughtful, which ultimately resigns them to being not entirely unmemorable as individual songs. The lyrics and delivery have a sense of conversation to them which fits well within this people-centric show, however it may be nice to see more variety with this musically.
Being an early premiere with a low budget in a small venue, the stage production is minimal but we never feel the stage is empty. This is largely due to Liv Bailey’s lighting design which helps to fill the stage and the audience. Bailey uses blues and reds to nod to the emergency services vehicles during the tragedy and to symbolise the colours of the French flag, in a subtle and unsubtle hint throughout the show when required.
The show is true to its core theme of people and relationships developing through key events and circumstances. We, as audience members, can all recall when a situation has affected a personal relationship and For You I’d Wait does an excellent job of allowing audiences to empathise with such experiences.
Despite a few strong musical numbers, the second act feels less developed than the first in terms of story. Indeed this new musical could benefit from more maturity in its direction and performances but, generally, it is a very engaging new show.
For You I’d Wait marks a well-thought-out, meticulous and enjoyable debut from Golby & West.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Cat Hancock
For You I’d Wait plays at the Turbine Theatre until 21 May, before transferring to the Union Theatre from 31 May-18 June.