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Southwark Playhouse, London
Author: Aristophanes freely adapted by Burt Shevelove and Nathan Lane
Music and lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Director: Georgie Rankcom
Producer: The Grey Area
Cast: Dan Buckley, Kevin McHale, Joaquin Pedro Valdes, Carl Patrick, Bart Lambert, Martha Pothen, Alison Driver, Milo McCarthy, Evonnee Bentley-Holder, Victoria Scone, Danielle Steers, Sooz Kempner, Jo Foster
Running time: Approximately two hours, 40 minutes, including interval
Until June 28
The time is now. The place is ancient Greece. So begins this extremely freely adapted version of Aristophanes’ “The Frogs”.
It would be equally true to declare the time is ancient Greece and the place is now, given that, centuries on, we continue to rail at our political leaders and the best hope for civilisation lies in the arts.
Fortunately, perhaps, nothing we do ultimately matters, as is summed up in “Hades,” Sondheim’s sardonically hilarious take on life in hell that is both “hot” and “cool” in the fashionable sense of the words.
With Dionysos, god of theatre and wine, as the lead character, there is plenty to enjoy before we die and, because “The Frogs” is a rare classical comedy, as opposed to a classical tragedy, his all-too-human flaws, portrayed by an amiable Dan Buckley, are benign and his unwilling slave Xanthias (Kevin McHale, making his British stage debut) gets to have fun.
Under the direction of Georgie Rankcom, who earned rave reviews for her production of Sondheim’s “Anyone Can Whistle” at Southwark Playhouse in 2022, the show truly takes off with the arrival of the Frogs.
Superbly choreographed and splendidly attired, they energise the action.
If at first it depends on jokes that struggle to withstand the amount of milking they receive, the arrival of the amphibians marks the ascendancy of Sondheim’s subtler, more lingering virtues.
A tight cast, employed to the full, apparently relish their performances as much as we do watching them.
They culminate in a verbal jousting match between two complementary giants of literature. Here, as throughout, the casting is adept. Martha Pothen as a brilliantly gruff George Bernard Shaw, renowned for his incisive wit, looms over Bart Lambert’s nimble Shakespeare with his more poetic approach to delivering truth to power.
The Frogs
Southwark Playhouse, London
Author: Aristophanes freely adapted by Burt Shevelove and Nathan Lane
Music and lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Director: Georgie Rankcom
Producer: The Grey Area
Cast: Dan Buckley, Kevin McHale, Joaquin Pedro Valdes, Carl Patrick, Bart Lambert, Martha Pothen, Alison Driver, Milo McCarthy, Evonnee Bentley-Holder, Victoria Scone, Danielle Steers, Sooz Kempner, Jo Foster
Running time: Approximately two hours, 40 minutes, including interval
Until June 28
The time is now. The place is ancient Greece. So begins this extremely freely adapted version of Aristophanes’ “The Frogs”.
It would be equally true to declare the time is ancient Greece and the place is now, given that, centuries on, we continue to rail at our political leaders and the best hope for civilisation lies in the arts.
Fortunately, perhaps, nothing we do ultimately matters, as is summed up in “Hades,” Sondheim’s sardonically hilarious take on life in hell that is both “hot” and “cool” in the fashionable sense of the words.
With Dionysos, god of theatre and wine, as the lead character, there is plenty to enjoy before we die and, because “The Frogs” is a rare classical comedy, as opposed to a classical tragedy, his all-too-human flaws, portrayed by an amiable Dan Buckley, are benign and his unwilling slave Xanthias (Kevin McHale, making his British stage debut) gets to have fun.
Under the direction of Georgie Rankcom, who earned rave reviews for her production of Sondheim’s “Anyone Can Whistle” at Southwark Playhouse in 2022, the show truly takes off with the arrival of the Frogs.
Superbly choreographed and splendidly attired, they energise the action.
If at first it depends on jokes that struggle to withstand the amount of milking they receive, the arrival of the amphibians marks the ascendancy of Sondheim’s subtler, more lingering virtues.
A tight cast, employed to the full, apparently relish their performances as much as we do watching them.
They culminate in a verbal jousting match between two complementary giants of literature. Here, as throughout, the casting is adept. Martha Pothen as a brilliantly gruff George Bernard Shaw, renowned for his incisive wit, looms over Bart Lambert’s nimble Shakespeare with his more poetic approach to delivering truth to power.
Sondheim surely learnt much from both of them.
Barbara Lewis © 2025.
By Barbara Lewis • music, musicals, plays, theatre, year 2025 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, music, musicals, plays, theatre