Oxford Playhouse, Wednesday 18th November – Saturday 21st November, 7.30p.m.

“it is wonderfully impressive, and without doubt blows any other student Playhouse show I’ve seen out of the water.” Review by Matt Maltby ★★★★★

Energy spilled out of the orchestra pit and surged onto the stage ensuring that from beginning to end we were hooked.” Review by Robert Holtom ★★★★★

West Side Story ★★★★★

Review by Matt Maltby

West Side Story is an incredibly difficult production to put on as a student company; the complexity of its dancing, singing and acting (probably in that order), as well as the sheer scale of the show, is an imposing ask, and to call the result perfect would definitely be overstating the case. With so many obstacles, the show is obviously flawed, but it is wonderfully impressive, and without doubt blows any other student Playhouse show I’ve seen out of the water. It hardly seems fair to compare it to professional shows, but that is the territory that it enters by virtue of the very high bar the opening 15 minutes creates.

It helps to have sold out, an impressive achievement by Producer Hannah Martin and her marketing team; it means there’s a genuine buzz around the full house. This is well-complimented by a talented band, on whom I’m not really qualified to comment, but who were well-received and brought every second of the score to life with great complexity, often proving more moving than the performances themselves.

West Side calls for a great choreographer, and Emilie Holland certainly does it great justice. In creating routines just hard enough for the ‘wow’ factor, and just simple enough for students to master them, she really excels. The movement is outstanding, and while it doesn’t quite hit the heights of the professionals, it is head and shoulders above anything else I’ve seen by students.

One issue I did have was that the violence was as stylised as any dance routine, and lacked any feel of danger; if the show aspires to connect to modern-day knife crime, as the programme implies, it needs to have more bite and edge. The most harrowing moment was certainly the attack on Anita, simply because it involved some physical contact; it’s hard when you can see the faked nature of a small slap 11 rows back.

The acting is a little variable, which is reasonable considering just how much is being asked of these performers. It doesn’t help that the dialogue is occasionally cheesy and outdated, and sometimes feels like an interlude between songs, but Chris Greenwood as Riff shows the rest how it’s done; he is direct, by turns genuinely affecting and scary, and puts in a performance that dominates the first half. His Jets, while a little more slight than your average gang, and with a few accent troubles, are generally excellent, taking on most of the harder routines, and displaying the show’s wit in Gee, Officer Krupke.

Ed Pearce is superb as Maria, her ‘Somewhere’ in particular instantly heartbreaking, but the fact that her accent often disappears in her songs is a little frustrating. One of the best performances comes from Genevieve Dawson as Anita, one of the few characters lifted out of 2D by the script. The other Sharks are generally good, although Alex Khosla, despite absolutely looking the part, is occasionally a little stiff, and the girls seem to hit the Hispanic accent rather better than the boys.  Also, yes, it’s hard to get a Latino-looking gang out of white Oxford students…

Tom Lyle, as Tony, sometimes struggles a bit; it didn’t help that his microphone occasionally crackled, but he seemed nervous, and unsure of what to do with his hands. Tony is inherently quite an annoying character, but Lyle lacked Pearce’s charm, and their physical intimacy always looked a little awkward compared to their vocals. He is an excellent singer, but doesn’t always have the range for the part, and could do with more confidence in his dialogue, often outshone by both Pearce and Greenwood.

The set , costume and general design were all excellent, as was Alex Dickens’ lighting, while the show is consistently visually striking and interesting; Alice Hamilton’s staging and overall vision is really to be praised. Asked if this is the best West Side Story you’ll ever see, I’d say no – the show carries some of the production’s faults. But the fact that that question is being asked should tell you something; this is really impressive and a cut above.

West Side Story ★★★★★

Review by Robert Holtom

Frantic violins, crashing drums and frenzied trumpets greeted the audience as the curtains went up and the show began. Energy spilled out of the orchestra pit and surged onto the stage ensuring that from beginning to end we were hooked.

West Side Story tells the tale of the Sharks and the Jets – two rival New York street gangs whose adolescent war is waged in the playgrounds, parks and alleyways that litter the city. The Sharks are the native gang whilst the Jets are comprised of Puerto Ricans, new arrivals on the scene desperately wanting to mark their territory. Racism, violence and murder ensue.

It might seem odd that a bleak backdrop such as this can provide such great entertainment but the jazziness of the music and the overwhelmingly comic nature of the lyrics ensured many laughs were had. Any musical demands that the cast bring their characters to life through physicality and voice, as less time is given to talking and more time to singing and dancing. It was here that the choreography really stole the show – each gang had their own distinctive presence; the Jets came across as restless and boisterous, whilst the Sharks bristled with caged viciousness. Particularly impressive was the school dance scene in which over twenty people were on stage; slick timing and a clear awareness of space ensured all the awkwardness and violent tension of such an ill advised event were vividly and energetically portrayed.

As with any musical certain numbers will stand out and leave people humming them for days after. Particular highlights were ‘America’ sung by the Latina Shark girls with a boisterous good humour as Anita and Rosalia argued over the merits of their old and new homes, and ‘Gee, Officer Krupke’ sung by the Jet boys. This was perhaps the most disturbing song as the boys’ attempts to ridicule society’s handling of ‘wayward’ youths devolved into a manic apelike dance which saw the psychologist, social worker and policeman all cut down to size.

The actual storyline involves a Romeo and Juliet romance between a Shark Girl, Maria (Emma Pearce), and a Jet boy, Tony (Tom Lyle). Both played their parts of ill fated star struck lovers with genuine warmth and emotion. Maria really stole the show in the second act as she struggled to reconcile her love for Tony with the fact that he had murdered one of the Sharks.

It is difficult to do such an impressive piece of student drama justice in so few words. That is not to say there were no deficiencies as some actors had clearly mastered their New Yorker/Puerto Rican accents better than others and at times the volume of the music meant that not all lyrics were heard. Of course, this was just the first night, so with many more sell out shows to come I can only imagine this production will go from strength to strength.