Pippin

Pippin  

 

Many thanks to Preston College for inviting me along to see Fosse’s ‘Pippin’ at Preston College Studio Theatre on Wednesday 22nd June 2022. It was a real treat to watch such a young and talented cast recreate one of the lesser-known classics which was first performed 50 years ago in 1972. This piece is an ensemble driven show whereby a troupe of performers re-enact a true story for the defiance of a young prince, Pippin, who murders his father as he disagrees with his brutal political methods and war principles. Upon taking the crown, he realises he is not fit for the job and so begs the leading players for his father to be brought back to life. In doing so, he promises exile to the leading, who narrate and cast the show, and a grand finale of falling in to fire. Along the way to the finale, he meets and falls in love with widow, Catherine, and is torn between following love or the grand finale and retaining show person's life with the performers. The show becomes full circle when Catherine’s child reprises songs from the show, and the leading players take her under their wing. 

Direction and choreography were provided by Dan Mason and  Sarah Hartigan. Both kept to traditional stylings for the show, executing the minimal, gestural movements amidst strong, often grotesque, characterisation, with an emphasis on silhouette and angular shape. It was nice to see the staging used in such a creative way. The theatre space was intimate and was filled with the full cast of 28 performers many times. I particularly loved the red curtain, which was wrapped around the whole theatre space, including the seating area. It added to the circus feel of the show and contextualised this beautifully, there was clever use of staging, whereby business and action would be drawing focus in one area of the stage, while more magic and razzle-dazzle was being set up in another area to draw attention and highlight poignant moments in the show. This is a technique used within magic, so was great to see this translated across into musical theatre and was very topical for the show. 

Pippin was played by Stephanie Williams who gave a very honest portrayal of this character. There were many moments of light and shade provided by Steph as she took the audience through the character’s journey. This role showed the strength of Stephanie’s vocal and dance ability. The arrangements of some Steohanie’s solos, nobility ‘Corner in the Sky,’ were interesting as they began down the octave and jumped up the octave to add power to the latter ends of the number, this emphasised Steph’s vocal range and ability. Steph’s strong dance ability was highlighted throughout the show, with various leaps, turns, lifts and splits, which were executed perfectly adding to the plot and drama and emphasising some of the ambiguity of the character.  

King Charlemaign was played by Olivia Saunt. Olivia’s performance was strongly characterised and was portrayed almost two dimensional next to that of Pippin, which highlighted the play within a play dimension to the story. Ellie Pennington and Eleanor Phipps played King Charlemagne’s wife, Fastrada, and other son, Lewis, respectively, again strong performances, portraying the jealousy and greed Pippin’s right to the throne. The gave a strong contrast in character to Pippin, highlighting the gentler side of Pippin, and there was a strong rapport between them. 

The three Leading Players were played by Eleanor Allen, Liesl Cook and Kaitlin Hopcroft. These 3 were outstanding throughout the show, personifying all of the adjectives in the opening number, ‘Magic to Do’, throughout the show. There was great unity when they were working together and were equally as strong individually. They narrated the story very well throughout the differing performance mediums. 

Charlotte Lisgo played Catherine and Theo was played by Reese Hudson. Both were played well and I thought Catherine’s solo number, ‘I guess I’ll Miss Pippin’ was very moving. 

What was particularly notable throughout the whole performance, was the strength of the entire cast as a whole. All performers remained in character, had outstanding focus, particularly in the stylised moments, which were particularly true to the Fosse style. I loved the circus skills brought into the show. There was so much power to all full cast numbers, and I walked out of the theatre blown away.

Well done to all involved in this production. 

 

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