My Fair Lady
Directed by Nikolai Foster
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
Curve, Leicester
Saturday 23rd November – Saturday 4th January
Welcome to late night Covent Garden as bustling crowds leave the bright lights of the theatre and begin to make their way home. Unfortunately, scattered among the ‘haves’ are the ‘have-nots’ peddling their wares and including a young woman attempting to rescue the flowers that have been knocked from her basket. Meet Eliza Dolittle (Molly Lynch) whose chance encounter with Professor Henry Higgins (David Seadon-Young) changes both their lives, and those of their families and households.
Higgins is an expert in phonetics, or as he puts it, ‘the science of speech.’ The social disparity between the different classes is laid bare in the speech patterns, accents, and dialect of the people around him. He overhears Eliza ‘crooning like a bilious pigeon’ and comments upon her ‘kerbstone English’ galvanising her ambition towards upwards social mobility.
Eliza wants to open her own flower shop and believes that changing the way she speaks might just enable her to do so. Higgins agrees to take on the challenge believing that he can pass her off as a duchess within six months. Let us just say that he learns valuable lessons of his own as he embarks on this programme of social engineering.
With its roots in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (8 AD) and George Bernard Shaw’s own Pygmalion, first performed in Vienna in 1913, My Fair Lady contains themes that still resonate with today’s audiences. The British class system, identity, patriarchy, and gender politics are all at the forefront. Hence, we can easily recognise Eliza’s status as outsider when she is jettisoned into an alien world that is right at the heart of the British establishment.
Nevertheless, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, there is a joyousness to this production. When Eliza’s father Alfred P. Dolittle (Steve Furst) along with his friends Harry (Jonathan Dryden Taylor) and Jamie (Ying Ue Li) perform With a Little Bit of Luck, the audience is swept along on a tide of exuberant performances and buoyant choreography (Jo Goodwin) that would bring a smile to the face of the stoniest grinch.
There is so much to admire in this production, not least in the magnificent set design by Michael Taylor. The Covent Garden scenes draw inspiration from the cast iron arches of Liverpool Street Station and the pillars of Inigo Jones’ St. Paul’s church lending a sense of grandeur. Henceforth, we segue to Professor Higgins’ study which is a star of the show in its own right.
Populated with the ephemera of bohemian academia, you could easily spend the whole of the running time marvelling at the props that have been assembled therein. Tiffany-inspired lamps, scores of leather-bound books, imposing-looking gramophones, gem-coloured bottles of liquor, and even a phrenology head make up this visually striking cornucopia. It all makes you want to get up on the stage for a closer look.
Amongst my favourite scenes are those involving the superb ensemble cast. A tube journey from Whitechapel to Bond Street is particularly memorable as is opening day at Ascot. We see a monochromatic tableau of exquisite Edwardian costumes skilfully lit by Mark Henderson. Furthermore, Get Me to the Church on Time is performed with such gusto by this talented company that you do not want the scene to end. Indeed, it is the same with all the big-ticket numbers, evidence of expert direction under Curve’s Nikolai Foster.
Special mention needs to go to Djavan Van de Fliert as Freddy Eynsford-Hill. He shines as bright as the exquisite full moon that dominates the night sky on stage. His voice soars making him a worthy contender for both Eliza’s heart and that of the audience.
Lynch as Eliza is a revelation, as fresh as the violets she peddles. She is equally convincing as both Cockney flower-girl and high-society lady. Her vocals are layered with subtle changes of inflection signalling her character’s emotional state.
Seadon-Young provides an interesting and somewhat unexpected take on Higgins. He is closer in age to Eliza than in the film version, so we lose the patrician and paternalistic aspects of the character that Rex Harrison brought to his interpretation. There is a freneticism to his behaviour and a cruel misogyny that can leave you feeling uncomfortable. Mrs Higgins (Cathy Tyson) accuses her son and Colonel Pickering of being, ‘A pretty pair of babies playing with a live doll,’ which begs to be acknowledged.
Notwithstanding, laughs are aplenty. For instance, when Colonel Pickering (Minal Patel) demands of Alfred Dolittle, ‘Have you no morals?’ the latter quickly retorts, ‘No, I can’t afford ‘em!’ Furthermore, when Eliza finally succeeds in mastering Received Pronunciation as expounded by Higgins and Pickering, the trio’s delight and excitement is infectious.
My Fair Lady is a true Christmas cracker. It is a delightful nostalgia-fest; a compelling vision coupled with pinpoint detail. As the song goes, ‘I Could Have Danced all Night…….’
Photo credit Marc Brenner
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Age Guidance: 9+, this performance contains haze, fog, and flashing lights.
