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London Review
London ReviewGrey Gardens
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"Somethere in Athens, there's a pedestal missing its statue. "
— Gould the pianist about Edith
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Edie (Jenna Russell) and Edith (Sheila Hancock) (Photo: Scott Rylander) |
Grey Gardens opens in 1973 but the First Act quickly switches back thirty years to 1941 when Jenna Russell plays Edith Bouvier Beale the mother and Rachel Anne Rayham the young girl, Edie Beale. Edith sings "The Girl Who Has Everything" about her daughter Edie but it is her indiscretion about Edie, and a public incident in the local swimming pool which scuppers Edie's chances of a marriage to Jack Kennedy's elder brother Joe (Aaron Sidwell), who was killed as a pilot in the Second World War. This act gives us the background to the life of mother and daughter, the thwarted show business ambitions of both and the lack of marital success — Edith in an estranged marriage and Edie with no marriage at all.
There is a love song "Goin' Places" between Edie and Joe, and Edith's father Major Bouvier's (Billy Boyle) advice to "Marry Well" is obviously listened to by Jackie Bouvier (Grace Jenkins/Eleanor Waldron) and her sister Lee (Alana Hinge/Rebecca Nardin) later Radziwill. "Two Peas in a Pod" shows the similarities between the squabbling and feuding mother and daughter.
The second act comes forward again to 1973 where Edith (Sheila Hancock) and Edie (Jenna Russell) are being filmed for a documentary after publicity has hit the newspapers about how Jackie Onassis' aunt and cousin were living in squalor. This second act is very closely inspired by the 1970s documentary with Edie's alopecia leading to her wearing exotic headscarves and the curious upside down skirt hem knotted at the waist and held together by safety pins part of her perception of what she termed revolutionary fashion; a refreshing change from the apricot satin of the first act. "In East Hampton, they can get you for wearing red shoes on a Thursday!" The photographs and paintings in the documentary show how very handsome both these women were. Edie had the nickname of "Body Beautiful Beale".
Watching this witty musical with likeable lyrics is at times full of poignant regret for these two women locked together in interdependency and quarrelling, each blaming the other for their situation. It is a human story with great acting and singing from Jenna Russell as both Edith and the bizarrely tragi-comic 1973 Edie, and Sheila Hancock capturing the essence of the older lady cut off by her father and getting no alimony from her husband's Mexican divorce.
For Elyse Sommer's reviews of Grey Gardens in New York, 2006, the song list and backgrounder go here.
| Grey Gardens
Book written by Doug Wright Music by Scott Frankel Lyrics by Michael Korie Directed by Thom Southerland Starring Sheila Hancock, Jenna Russell, Rachel Anne Rayham, Aaron Sidwell, Ako Mitchell With: Jeremy Legat, Billy Boyle, Grace Jenkins/Eleanor Waldron, Alana Hinge/Rebecca Nardin Set designed by Tom Rogers Costume designed by Jonathan Lipman Lighting: Howard Hudson Sound: Andrew Johnson Choreographer: Lee Proud Musical Director: Michael Bradley Musical Supervisor: Simon Lee Running time: Two hours 30 minutes with an interval Box Office 020 7407 0234 Booking to 6th February 2016 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 7th January 2016 performance at the Southwark Playhouse, Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD |
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