Cable Street - Southwark Playhouse

[BurlyBeaR]

It’s October 1936 in the heart of London’s East End.

Sammy, Mairead and Ron are carving out their own futures on Cable Street when Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists start to march on East London.

Half a million Jews, Irish workers and communists unite to blockade the road they call home.

As the people raise their voices and take a united stand against hatred, the lives of the streets’ residents are changed forever.

Featuring a contemporary score, Cable Street is an electrifying reimagining of one of London’s most significant days.

A celebration of community and a rallying call to action, this timeless story is as powerful today as it ever was.

southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/cable-street/

[max]

It'll be interesting to find out what 'featuring a contemporary score' means. Presumably they mean contemporary to now, not 1930s. It's been a long while since a 'cockney musical' worked, and avoiding the 'Lord luv a duck' cliches sounds like a good move. Will be interesting to see if there's a 'now' frame that explains the music being contemporary, or if it just ....is; because it's been written 'now'.

[stevej678]

Somewhat surprised to see all the February dates and several of the March dates for this have sold out, with limited availability for the other performances, before this has even started its run.

[Mark]

Run is completely sold out. Certainly not used to that for shows at Southwark Playhouse.

[zahidf]

[zahidf]

Id guess based on its success so far, itll be moved to the larger Elephant and Castle venue later this year. Definitely a demand for it

[Being Alive]

I can't understand why this has sold out already when we know nothing about the quality of the work.

[zahidf]

Feb 16, 2024 10:44:11 GMT Being Alive said:

I can't understand why this has sold out already when we know nothing about the quality of the work.

Relatively small venue and people really like the concept i guess!

[Being Alive]

Feb 16, 2024 10:54:35 GMT zahidf said:

Feb 16, 2024 10:44:11 GMT Being Alive said:

I can't understand why this has sold out already when we know nothing about the quality of the work.

Relatively small venue and people really like the concept i guess!

Sure, but Benjamin Button didnt become a sell out until after it opened (and that had a prior run, good word of mouth, and an Olivier award winning star in the lead) so I'm just...confused as to what's set the public's interested alight

[nash16]

Feb 16, 2024 12:13:53 GMT Being Alive said:

Feb 16, 2024 10:54:35 GMT zahidf said:

Relatively small venue and people really like the concept i guess!

Sure, but Benjamin Button didnt become a sell out until after it opened (and that had a prior run, good word of mouth, and an Olivier award winning star in the lead) so I'm just...confused as to what's set the public's interested alight

It has quite a specific target audience, which I think has guaranteed it selling well/out.

[zahidf]

[nickel1997]

Has anyone seen this yet?

[theatrelover123]

There was an audience tonight who saw it

[nickel1997]

Feb 20, 2024 21:42:38 GMT theatrelover123 said:

There was an audience tonight who saw it

Correct and I was in it! Just wondering what people's thoughts on it were!

[nash16]

Feb 20, 2024 22:24:15 GMT nickel1997 said:

Feb 20, 2024 21:42:38 GMT theatrelover123 said:

There was an audience tonight who saw it

Correct and I was in it! Just wondering what people's thoughts on it were!

Are you part of the creative team?

We’d love to hear YOUR thoughts.

[ThereWillBeSun]

LOL ^ 🫖

[minion]

What is the capacity at the Borough venue where this is playing?

[Steve]

Saw this tonight and very much enjoyed it.

The second half (which has more developed and involving characterisation and more rousing songs) is better than the first half, which is more setting the scene, and has more nondescript songs.

Part of setting the scene involves depicting a lot of unpleasant (but necessary) antisemitism, so if you're squeamish about that, beware.

There are multiple song styles, some of which hit harder than others, with the rapping never hitting the heights its aiming for.

The wonderful Debbie Chazen is underused (as is Jade Johnson, who sounds great), and doesn't get a proper character, which is a bit of a shame.

Among a strong ensemble, who sound great together, Danny Colligan is a standout in a difficult main role, and Jez Unwin is terrific in support.

Some spoilers follow. . .

There have been lots of movies about Titanic, but the reason the James Cameron one is loved by audiences is that fictional DiCaprio-Winslet relationship, smack in the middle of it, as well as the drama they have with Billy Zane.

Here, we usefully get the Titanic formula applied to the Battle of Cable Street, whereby Joshua Ginsberg's super-charming East End Jewish boy, Sammy meets Sha Dessi's Irish communist agitator, Mairead, and they both team up to oppose the British Union of Fascists's plan to waltz through Cable Street, protected by the police, while Danny Colligan's hopeless jobless impressionable English local boy, Ron, starts to get seduced by the Fascists (uh oh). . .

Anyhow, the plot cleverly does not stop with the eponymous battle, and looks beyond it usefully.

Pretty much the entire ensemble, bar the above named characters, play multiple roles of all sorts, including Fascists, which means two things: (1) no actor is typecast as an armband-wearing Fascist, which suggests (2) that anybody could be susceptible to Fascist ideas given the right circumstances. Mosley himself is never depicted, never given oxygen, rather it is the susceptibility of ordinary people to the manipulations of xenophobia, ancient hatreds, and a certain form of virulent Nationalism (eg "British jobs for British people") that is under the microscope.

Thematically then, Danny Colligan's Ron is pivotal, and in the second half, he gets a really powerful song, "Shut Me Out," (I'm guessing song titles) where Colligan's impassioned soulful rendition of the song, moved me, and was a highlight, despite his character's villainy.

As the heroic plucky lead character, Sammy, Ginsberg heroically delivers Lin Manuel Miranda levels of likeable energetic rhyming, but is let down by no memorable tunes following the raps.

Sha Dessi is luckier in the song stakes, and her heroine makes like an anti-Marie Antoinette with an awesome delivery of a song that might be called "Bread."

As Sammy's father, who pushes Sammy not to get involved in the Cable Street battle, Jez Unwin delivers so tenderly one of the most moving songs of the piece, "Words," in which he expresses his respect for rationality, as well as his pained disconnect with his son.

There are quite a few forgettable numbers, unfortunately, in the first half, with the notable exception of the brilliant choral ensemble song, "No Passeran, Thou Shall not Pass."

Debbie Chazen is cheated out of any great solos, though I loved her Jaws-reminiscent line delivery, where instead of needing a "bigger boat," she rather needed a "bigger rolling pin."

The Hitler supporting Daily Mail gets it's much deserved and due comeuppance in a much reprised song, "Read all about it," which makes me look forward to their review lol.

I felt that the first half was an average 3 stars, with too much history, not enough story, too few bangers, whereas the second half was a moving 4 stars, with more story, the right amount of history, and almost every song a banger.

3 and a half stars from me, which could improve with book and song edits.

PS: Running time was as advertised, beginning 5 minutes late at 7:35pm and ending 5 minutes late, at 10:05pm, with one interval.

[Mr Snow]

Great review. Thanks for taking the time.

[zahidf]

Mainly 4/5 stars in the papers for this

[max]

Strong reviews in mainstream outlets, with some doubts shown more in the web-based reviewers and bloggers. I wonder why it's that way around. I saw it at the Sat matinee before the Monday press night, so these thoughts were written before seeing any reviews:

The piece does a powerful job stating that prejudice can hit all, and also that succumbing to being an oppressor can seduce all. Good to show it wasn’t only an iconic Jewish fight back - the message of alliances is loud and necessary; who could disagree with that right now? - it’s totally topical.

The price of that is that the musical voice of old Jewish East London is barely there; sad as it’s one we rarely hear, and one that’s fading in real life. Yet there’s space made for a Spanish guitar tinged song when they import the knowledge of the Spanish civil war cry ‘No Passeran/none shall pass’ as inspiration; and a post-battle celebration that has a Caribbean feel reminiscent of ‘Under The Sea’. It’s not that the Jewish characters don’t have stage time, but when they get to the heart of a family meal or ordinary daily ritual the action quickly cuts away to what the Irish or Northern English characters are up to.

Perhaps the idea is that by having the young Jewish protagonist rapping it shows he’s a radical beyond the understanding of his conservative father and pushes him ahead of the other characters in forward thinking radicalism. Except the rap just isn’t that cutting edge - unlikely to please an older audience (unless it makes them feel daring) and could be risible to a younger one. So the Irish female firebrand, and the northern lad turned fascist get to sing full out and impressive, while the Jewish musical voice has less urgency and agency. This changes a bit at the start of Act 2 when a Jewish inflected melody for the conservative dad is one of the stand-out moments, but that’s pretty much it.

More uses of Yiddish, and definitely more authentic East London accents and attitude would ground the piece. An older audience around me particularly enjoyed the few Yiddish phrases, and vocalised ‘yes that did happen’ at certain points (reminding me of the audience at Stephen Ward - there to mark a happening they know and cherish, more than to discover something new).

I didn’t get on with the framing device of the walking tour of today's East End - the piece isn’t short in duration so that kind of ‘get there fast by justifying exposition’ isn’t needed in the way it is for short pieces of TIE. I’m a bit bewildered by this trait in theatre generally right now - but I won’t go on about ‘Just For One Day’ ever again.

As it’s sold out at Southwark Playhouse it will definitely get a further life, but drawing an already motivated audience has probably been the best way to test it with a gentle reception, as a wider audience may bring a more harsh light on it.

[stevej678]

[Steve]

Feb 27, 2024 23:19:42 GMT max said:

Strong reviews in mainstream outlets, with some doubts shown more in the web-based reviewers and bloggers. I wonder why it's that way around.

Interesting observation.

At a guess, it's that bloggers/web-based reviewers are more aligned with general audiences, mainly going by how much they enjoy a thing, whereas mainstream critics add or deduct stars based on values.

For example, encouraging cultural assimilation, solving conflicts, coming up with original ideas, original ways of staging productions, and/or saving the planet, etc, could all be considered positive values that might get critics adding a star to their assessments, even though dispassionately audiences might bot be more entertained by those values.

Similarly, applying tried and tested entertainment formulas might be perceived by mainstream critics as a negative value because it doesn't develop the art of theatre, even if it makes audiences happy. This might result in a star or two deducted from a perfectly entertaining show.

In the case of "Cable Street," like the "Bend it Like Beckham" musical, or "The Scottsboro Boys," it might be perceived by critics as improving society, reducing racism, a positive value that goes beyond entertainment.

For me, the most extreme example I saw of this phenomenon was Michael Billington's review of "2071," at the Royal Court, which he gave 5 stars:

www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/nov/07/2071-review-urgent-call-history-royal-court-theatre

The show wanted to help save future generations from one of the most pressing problems of our time, climate change, and Billington gave the play his full 5 star weight.

I agreed more closely with one of the more popular comments underneath his review, which included this assessment:

"It was a lecture delivered by a man reading an auto-cue (hence no notes) with all the charisma of the diminishing ice-shelves he was describing."

I don't think it's wrong that sometimes professional critics want to promote originality or save the world, but that's my guess as to why they sometimes promote productions that aren't necessarily the most entertaining, and also why, conversely, they'll slam a super-entertaining production that doesn't promote such values.

Just speculation on my part, of course.

[jek]

I grew up just off Cable Stree in the 1960s and 70s. I come from an Irish Catholic family who came over in the late 1930s to work at the Ford car factory in Dagenham and became very involved in trade union activism (my aunt was one of the women who struck for equal pay and every so often archival footage of her turns up on TV). My dad left Fords to become a burglar alarm mechanic and his patch was the then very Jewish Whitechapel with its fabric wholesalers and jewellers. I grew up going out with my dad on his rounds and was possibly the only Catholic girl in Stepney who had a set of honorary Jewish uncles. My mum had, as a girl, lit many Sabbath fires for Jewish people for whom that was forbidden. Even in the 1970s the events in Cable Street were starting to be celebrated. So this should be right up my street (quite literally!) But the trailer is giving me Lionel Bart Blitz! vibes, which is not a good thing. If it goes on to a new life I will chance it as the Mark Lawson review suggests it moves on from 'Mockney', but I will steel myself for the bits that are pure 'diamond geezer'.

[max]

Mar 1, 2024 10:46:58 GMT jek said:

I grew up just off Cable Stree in the 1960s and 70s. I come from an Irish Catholic family who came over in the late 1930s to work at the Ford car factory in Dagenham and became very involved in trade union activism (my aunt was one of the women who struck for equal pay and every so often archival footage of her turns up on TV). My dad left Fords to become a burglar alarm mechanic and his patch was the then very Jewish Whitechapel with its fabric wholesalers and jewellers. I grew up going out with my dad on his rounds and was possibly the only Catholic girl in Stepney who had a set of honorary Jewish uncles. My mum had, as a girl, lit many Sabbath fires for Jewish people for whom that was forbidden. Even in the 1970s the events in Cable Street were starting to be celebrated. So this should be right up my street (quite literally!) But the trailer is giving me Lionel Bart Blitz! vibes, which is not a good thing. If it goes on to a new life I will chance it as the Mark Lawson review suggests it moves on from 'Mockney', but I will steel myself for the bits that are pure 'diamond geezer'.

You've got a great history with the area - you'll have known Bloom's and their legendary salf beef sandwich then! If accuracy matters there couldn't be a better judge if you go when they bring it back. On the current version you needn't fear 'Cable Street' being 'mockney' - there's a lot of Irish accented and Northern English accented dialogue. The young male East End Jewish central character is most memorable for setting out his story and experiences through rap. While it's not 'mockney', (as mentioned above) I did miss hearing a genunine East London and old-London Jewish accent - thinking of Wesker and Kops. But I'll stand up a bit for 'diamond geezer' style if real and not put on. One of the memorable things about Ridley Road market (where Mosley's fascists were also pushed back) is market traders making the word 'flowers' last forever: 'flaaaaaaaas'. But I get why you'd wince if it's faked for 'cute cockney' effect when you've known it first hand.