Review: WE’LL HAVE NUN OF IT, The Other Palace (Studio)
Photo credit: Pamela Raith
Running concurrently beneath Cruel Intentions in the studio space of The Other Palace, We’ll Have Nun of It is a gorgeous new coming-of-age musical set in an elite Catholic boarding school in late-1960s London.
In the height of the sexual revolution, where same-sex couples are becoming more visible and contraceptive pills are changing the dynamics of relationships, four classmates in their final year at St Anne’s Convent School confront shifting perceptions of friendships, family, sex and religion.
Co-writers Rosie Dart and Finola Southgate have created a remarkably funny and poignant show that captures the precipice of optimistic innocence at the edge of childhood. Without feeling too weighted down by issues, the play draws in explorations of broken homes, Catholic guilt, loneliness, otherness and sexuality.
The real strength of this show is the music, performed flawlessly by an astounding cast of multi-instrumentalists. Southgate’s score brings in traditional choral elements with Irish folk and rock to create a joyful punky musical cocktail. Although we’re not in love with the title, it does signpost the spirit of the show, the humour and the determined persistence of friendship and love.
The cast are electric and collectively boast phenomenal vocal skills. Heather Gourdie brings a real quiet and gentle power to the character of Bernie. Michaela Murphy as Irish farmgirl Caragh is buoyant, energetic and wistful, but underpins her storytelling with a subtle anarchic energy. Angel Lema is earnestly rebellious as the sultry upstart Eliza, and matched well against Juliette Artigala as the pious and conflicted Mary. Sorrel Jordan fills in a number of others, performing with notable elasticity to wrap the various storylines together.
The studio space in the belly of The Other Palace is an unusual, cabaret-style stage but one we think suits this show to a tee. The performers do not feel bound in at all by the space, even with the plethora of instruments they have to navigate. Director Rosie Dart has smoothly choreographed this peace, and the seamless direction is carried over into the elegant musical direction of Rosie Weston.
Oliver McNally’s lighting design, which frequently bathes the cast in sultry pinks and blues, heightens the sensuality and rampant emotions of the piece. It was easy to pick out the queer audience members who audibly swooned at the outrageously romantic and joyfully, overwhelmingly gay set piece involving a bass guitar…
This new show has been in development for some years and we would drop in to see it again in a heartbeat. With echoes of Sheik and Sater’s Spring Awakening, this show is a musical triumph full of warmth and heart and unparalleled musicianship.
**** Four Stars
Reviwed by Livvy Perett