We'll Have Nun Of It - The Other Palace

[stevej678]

As announced by Playbill earlier today, the Edinburgh Fringe hit is transferring to The Other Palace in early 2024, with all the Edinburgh cast reprising their roles. 

Set in 1967, the musical follows a group of friends, blending contemporary pop, soul and folk music in a story of convent school life.

The cast features Angel Lema as Eliza, Chaya Gupta as Sarah, Heather Gourdie as Bernie, Juliette Artigala as Mary, and Michaela Murphy as Caragh.

The production opens in The Other Palace studio on 22 February.

Really excited to see this transfer to London. I spent nearly three weeks at the Fringe this summer and this was the only production I saw twice.

[Adalea]

Saw this in Edinburgh and really enjoyed it! The cast had great energy. Glad that it has a future life.

[stevej678]

Looks like it will be an extended version at The Other Palace. The running time is showing as 90 minutes on their website, compared to the 60 in Edinburgh. That's all the encouragement I needed to see it again!

[thistimetomorrow]

I wasn't the biggest fan of this when I saw it at the Fringe, but one of my problems was I did think the story felt rushed, so I may be tempted to return for an extended version.

[Steve]

I was looking for something to pass the time before the "Side Show" Musical Concert, and saw this had a Sunday matinee (given the title, I was half-expecting Robbie Coltrane in a wig and a nun's habit), and it turned out to be a phenomenally moving piece, brilliantly acted and sung.

As far as shows about Catholic School Girls go, I felt the characters in this are better drawn and more likeable than those in "Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour," and the original songs in this are more specific, heartfelt and moving than the jukebox songs in that, as well. And I liked that!

Some spoilers follow. . .

There's 4 lead characters in this, senior pupils at a Catholic School in London, and all of them could be lead characters in successful teen shows, so well drawn are they, and so involving their dramas. For a 90 minutes straight through piece, it's almost overwhelming how well it all works, and the songs, folky, poppy and rocky, are excellent expressions of these characters and dramas.

Impecunious Irish farm girl, Caragh, as played by Michaela Murphy, is the most sparky, impassioned and thoroughly endearing character I've seen in anything all year. Murphy herself is a great part of it, her natural ebullient effusiveness irrepressible. She gets the most laughs, and when she gets serious, it's heart wrenching in the extreme.

Heather Gourdie's Bernie has an element of quiet mystery about her, and as her layers peel away, the level of inner torment revealed is agonising. She's the type of wallflower character that deepens a TV show like "Skins."

Angel Lima's Eliza is the sort of tough in-your-face rebel type that typically leads shows like "Skins," and is later revealed to be much more nuanced and more vulnerable than you ever could have believed, when you find out where Eliza's coming from. The more you know, the more you care.

Juliette Artigala, who plays the ultra-religious Mary, has the kind of voice that is so warm and soulful that she could ghost-sing any soulful pop song and make you care about it twice as much. Once she gets involved in a bit of a "Heartbreaker" plot with one of the other characters, it's pure fire.

And the other actor, Sorrel Jordan, who plays all the adults, is like a chameleon, the way she flits so successfully between mannerisms and characters.

Finola Southgate's folky poppy songs are some of the best-written songs I've encountered in any new musical, and in the hands of the above actors, they are weapons.

I feel the creators of this show, Southgate and Rosie Dart, co-creator and director, are destined for big things.

This show moved me to the tune of 4 and a half stars.

[stevej678]

I saw the final performance of this at The Other Palace yesterday evening after watching Cruel Intentions earlier in the afternoon.

It's the third time I've seen the show now, after watching it twice in Edinburgh, and it's so much better in its extended form. Running just under 1 hour 40 minutes without an interval, compared to 55-60 minutes at the Fringe, the characters have so much more space to breathe. The story has greater clarity and packs more of an emotional punch than the condensed running time allowed last summer.

It's such a beautiful story with a glorious, gorgeous, soulful and folk-led score. Sometimes a show just connects with you and sends your spirits soaring while simultaneously breaking your heart. We'll Have Nun of It succeeds even more in that regard now we've got more time to get to know each of the central characters.

Those four students at the convent school are exceptionally well drawn in the writing and brought to life on stage. Add in a variety of minor adult roles performed by a fifth member of the company and you have a cast who are simply sensational. Five incredible multi-instrumentalist performers whose chemistry somehow elevates their individual talents to a collective level that soars even higher. It's a joy to see them jamming together on stage. 

We'll Have Nun of It is up there with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for me as one of the standout new musicals of the past few years. It's a life-affirming, moving and effervescent piece of new musical theatre that I'm glad has found the audience it deserves and been so well received at The Other Palace. I can't wait to see what's next for the show and all involved.

Five stars.