Well, where to start? We fancied this as it had lots to recommend it..... great reviews, Frances Ruffelle, Matt Rawle, Bob Fosse choreography and... that bloke from Emmerdale. Oh, and it was at the Menier Chocolate Factory, well known for producing wee little gems. We went along with high hopes, but other than than not a clue what to expect as we had never seen Pippin.
The staging was interesting, being directed to our seats through a teenage boys bedroom is not your usual theatrical experience, into a dark space transformed into seemingly the innards of a video game. So far, so wacky. The Menier is a very intimate space, and it is difficult to view with anonymity, which in this case could have been helpful...because, well it was all, frankly, a bit odd.
Eponymous hero Pippin on a search for an extraordinary life by negotiating levels of a video game. The staging and direction was pretty good, very clever in places, especially where characters were dragged through the curtains to became shadows/images ( apologies,you sort of had to be there...!) and the performances were good (with the exception of the bloke from Emmerdale, who was a bit cringey), it was the story we couldn`t quite get over. It was just so weird and self-consciously earnest. If you are supposed to take it seriously, well, you can`t. We sincerely hope it was all meant as a joke, as we really couldn`t get on board with the land of eternal gardening, the dead duck, the medieval family feud and the scantily clad saucepots who rocked up periodically thoughout. So, what did we like? Well, the choreography was great, and Matt Rawle as the Leading Player did have the stunned audience in the palm of his hand. Tamsin even got over his spooky resemblance to her yoga teacher, such was his stage presence.... Josie Lawrence also provided a star cameo as Granny Pippin and got the audience reluctantly singing along, but it seemed to be through gritted teeth unfortunately. There were a few good songs, although off hand we cant recall any in particular.
But the plot...THE PLOT!!!!! Well, its dire.
The dialogue was sucky and we were embarrassed for the cast. The story goes through stages of the video game and although the producers had clearly decided to bring the whole thing into the 21st Century it still felt very dated in every possible way. As this was written by the same guys responsible for 'Wicked' we can absolutely see why 'Wicked' is a hit and why 'Pippin' will probably always be a fringe theatre cast off. But we also thought there would at least be a few catchy tunes we could hum along to. That would be a resounding 'no' then. The first act dragged on and on. When it finally ended after an hour and a bit Karina thought the show had ended, that's how confusing it all was. As the wiser one, Tamsin noticed people had left their coats on the seats, clearly aiming to come back. Though after the interval virtually all of the front row never returned. Must be soul destroying for the cast. And indeed for us, as we were now nose to nose with the cast, and as this show involved a fair amount of narration directly to the audience those of us with a less "interactive" disposition sank lower and lower in our seats, buttocks a-clenching, lest we be singled out for a rhetorical question or two.
In the end Pippin learns the meaning of life, that what you are searching for is usually under your nose (well, duh!) whilst his kind-of stepson gets sucked into the world of make believe. Profound.
Pippin was another one of those experiences that is very difficult to relate back, because it's so hard to describe how dysfunctional it was without witnessing it yourself. Though not one soul in this world could persuade us to sit through it again, even with free tickets. Fact. It was bizarre and not in a good way. It was thought provoking in a 'why can't it stop already' kind of way. Thumbs up to Frances Ruffelle though, who sings like a dream, is a pleasure to watch and looks bloody amazing for her age. Or for any age actually.
And so that was Pippin. We think we actually prefer Ich War Noch Niemals in New York...
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