Review: MARY AND THE HYENAS, Wilton’s Music Hall
Photo credit: Tom Arran
Having just given birth to a daughter, Mary Woolstonecraft is dying, but she still has so much more that she wants to achieve. Set during her last ten days, she imagines how she’d recount her life to her daughter if she’d have lived to see her grow up…
The National Theatre Generate Program helped to support the development of this show, which made its debut at Hull Truck Theatre earlier this year prior to its current performance at Wilton’s Music Hall.
The layered wooden box design of the stage area, which enables the actors to make use of different levels during the performance, aids with the creation of a rigid atmosphere. This atmosphere is further enhanced by the key feature of stark costumes and corsets, creating a sense of intimidation and suffocation.
Additionally, the set blends with the historic venue itself, making the show more immersive by enabling the audience to be literally surrounded and submerged in history.
Librettist Maureen Lennon and score writer Billy Nomates are experts at musical storytelling. The lyrics are sharp and witty, whilst also being simple and effective enough to understand at first listen. None of the songs feel out of place, being sung at particularly key moments in the show, meaning that they feel both emotionally punchy and needed. Act Two opener, ‘We Are The Men’, is particularly noteworthy for how well it pulls the audience back into the action after the interval.
The book of the musical is a lesson in good book writing. It’s consistently realistic, sharp and informative without feeling particularly dense in its use of language or in the educational subject matter it conveys. It covers the biography of Wollstonecraft well by focusing purely on the most significant and dramatic moments of her life. Her achievements as a feminist writer in the 1700’s are placed in tandem with her personal life, meaning that we become fully invested in her story, not just due to her contributions to the world.
The dancing in the story is fluid and gorgeous, aided by the actors' use of the levels in the set, making the show visually interesting to watch.
The casting in the show is impeccable. Its easy to see that the actresses both love and take pride in what they’re doing and really believe in the messages that they are conveying. We think that the choice to use an all-female cast to tell this story makes absolute sense because it allows the show to really make a statement, that transcends the time period it is set in, about equality and our innate ability to judge and oppress each other.
Laura Elsworthy is a musical theatre star in the making. She is perfectly cast as the lead firebrand herself, conveying a wide range of pain, grief and rage during her performance. She characterises Wollstonecraft as both trapped in her society and defiant against it, like an overdue asteroid. The outsider who isn’t interested in changing herself to fit but changing society to fit her ideals. We agonise to see her betrayed in love and we cheer with her successes. Elsworthy has an inner fire that can’t be taught and her voice rises to match the prowess of the icon she is portraying.
Fearless. Impactful. Captivating. Full of utterly iconic and inspiring characters, with music as strong as its protagonist. This could easily become a cult musical.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Megan O’Neill
For more information on Mary and the Hyenas, please click here.