PSA: The following statement is meant with love and affection.
The St Andrews rendition of this musical belongs in a top 10 worst Southern accent impersonations list. Praise the Lord.
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| ID: Bella Yow, Ben Stockil, Ian Crews, and May Tomlinson. Credit: Teigan Ferrie |
Bonnie & Clyde is a Christian country-coded reenactment of the toxic situationship you’re too horny to leave. Directed by Leia Ransley and produced by Turner Prewitt, this both is the Fresher’s musical for this year and the first musical to be performed in the StAge after the incident which deprived me of a decent night out for a year. There’s something amusing about how the pit orchestra got banished to 601 and had to appear like a dirty secret for the bows. At least they get let out, unlike in the Byre.
This non-biographical retelling of the lives of America’s most beloved criminal couple (after Batman and Joker) slowly follows Bonnie (May Tomlinson) and Clyde (Ian Crews) from child to adulthood in West Dallas - and eventually gets to the good robbery bit around the start of Act 2. The switchover from young (played by Anna Thompson) to adult Bonnie was nicely done and was easy to follow. I appreciated that because I’m prone to being addled.
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| ID: Anna Thompson, May Tomlinson, Ian Crews, and Roseanna McNaught Davis. Credit: Teigan Ferrie. |
Congratulations must firstly go to the stage crew (David Cantor, Taz Madan and Flora Green). I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many of them scurry around at once, but it was warranted as there was a set change approximately every 30 seconds. Much like mice, they were quick, quiet, and often stepped on.
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| ID: Bella Yow and Ben Stockil. Credit: Teigan Ferrie. |
The set design (Lily McCarthy) was generally very portable for obvious reasons, but the newspaper article projections were a fun touch, and good for displaying exposition to the uneducated (me). The time skips in the opening number would have been entirely lost on me otherwise.
I
admire the stellar craftsmanship of the jail cell bars, which looked
incredibly indestructible. I also appreciated the return of the
cardboard car, as everyone “driving” it assumes the weirdest positions
when holding the steering wheel. Speaking of weird positions, I particularly enjoyed when Clyde and Buck (Ben Stockil) were performing together. The number “When I Drive” emphasised the Club Penguin-esque shapes they were cutting which I thought really added to the whole performance.
Throughout the whole musical, I was undecided as to whether I actually liked the characters of Bonnie and Clyde. This could be chalked up to my general distaste for PDA. Don’t misquote me here however, I thought May Tomlinson’s performance was great! “Dyin’ Ain’t so Bad” was my favourite solo of the show.
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| ID: Rebecca Benstead, Roseanna McNaught Davis, Ruby Thake, Matthew Colquhoun, Anna Thompson, Emma Koonce, and Ben Stockil. Credit: Teigan Ferrie. |
Other cast performances that must be mentioned are obviously, Matthew Colquhoun and Bella Yow. Would it be a St Andrews musical if at least one of them wasn’t skulking around? Matthew as the preacher headed up possibly the whitest gospel number I’ve ever seen, complete with a full choir of University of St Andrews undergraduate gowns. You have to make that £160 investment back somehow, I suppose.
Meanwhile,
Bella played a convincingly flouncy Blanche Barrow whose number “You’re
Goin Back to Jail” was the best of the musical, in my opinion I appreciated her equal distaste for the phrase “ravishing redhead.”
In conclusion, the vocal talents of the women within the cast, were as always, stunning! The men possessed vocals. Nonetheless, Bonnie & Clyde is a fun romp about romance and crime, and way more car scenes that I anticipated. Tickets can be bought from the Union website!
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