CurtainUp
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A CurtainUp London Review
Striking 12
Played by a cast of actor-musicians, Striking 12 is a charming low key antidote to the excesses of the holiday season. The delightful Declan Bennett and guitar, whom we saw as Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar fixes his grumpy expression for the duration of the first half of the play. His visitor is an updated little match girl, wearing a backpack decorated by a giant light bulb. The girl (Bronté Barbé) is selling special light bulbs to help those with SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder for whom the shortage of daylight in winter can make them feel depressed. Maybe here is the right point to remind you of the story of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Match Girl. In the original, the girl is tasked by her cruel father to sell matches but she is unsuccessful and cannot go home. Happier days for her were when her grandmother, now deceased, looked after her. The little match girl strikes all the matches to keep warm and remembers that her grandmother said every falling star is someone going to heaven. While asleep, the girl has dreams of fabulous banquets and reunion with her grandmother that will await her in heaven. While Brendan answers the door to the light bulb seller, he is no mood to buy any lightbulbs but he does agree to hear her out in the song "Sales Pitch" which she delivers as fast as she can. However, her visit has reminded him of the story of the Little Match Girl which he finds on the book shelf and decides to read. Striking 12 switches to the 19th century and the original tale, and barefoot, Bronté Barbé becomes the character in the Hans Christian Andersen story. As Brendan reads the tale, his face visibly softens and wide eyed he watches the girl on the snowy street of Copenhagen in the 1840s. A rap between the narrator (Danielle Kassaraté) and Brendan mentions the superficiality of New York city parties which are all kissing and flattery. Brendan mentions how often the reply to a question is "It's fine" in the song "Fine, Fine Fine" when we feel anything except fine. In the opening scene, many of the cast continuously light matches and I wondered for a minute whether we might be watching the cautionary tale of Harriet and the Matches from Heinrich Hoffmann the author of StruwwelPeter or Shockheaded Peter, instead of one inspired by Hans Christian Andersen. The final scene is one of genuine celebration as Brendan is cheered by the Hans Christian Andersen tale. The Union's seasonal offering is low key but not without charm.
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Search CurtainUp in the box below PRODUCTION NOTES Striking 12 Book, Music and Lyrics by Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda Book by Rachel Sheinkin Directed and book adapted by Oliver Kaderbhai Starring: Declan Bennett, Bronté Barbé, Danielle Kassaraté, Kate Robson-Stuart, Leon Scott, Andrew Linnie Design: Natalie Johnson Lighting Design: Alex Lewer Musical Director: Ashley Harvey Co-choreographer: Marah Stafford Running time: One hour 5 minutes without an interval Box Office: 020 7261 9876 Booking to 23rd December 2018 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 3rd December 2018 performance at the Union Theatre, 229 Union Street, London SE1 0LR (Tube: Southwark) Index of reviewed shows still running , REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
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