Muted (at The Bunker)

[bellboard27]

It is always nice to see a new musical and this was worth seeing. The story is of a former band front man who has had a traumatic experience and become mute. Another band member and a former lover who had both lost touch with him make contact and a journey begins (more details of the story at: www.bunkertheatre.com/whats-on/muted ). There are five characters, a cast of six (yes two play one character) and a four piece band.

I felt parts of the story were a bit weak, naive or rushed (particularly in the first half), but the songs were good. It is billed as a rock musical, which it is, but many of the songs are quiet and reflective, rather than ‘big’ numbers. Unfortunately, the preview I saw had a sound issue to start with as the actors’ were not sufficiently amplified to be heard above the band at times (so the lyrics were easier to hear for the quieter numbers). However, this got sorted and overall the sound then worked very well in the space.

The advertising quotes Mark Shenton calling this “The British Rent”. This is bound to raise expectations to way beyond what they should be! (It might be a quote taken out of context!). Rather it is an interesting new production, with some nice performances and nice songs, but still feels like a bit of a work in progress.

Muted is the 3rd production at the Bunker and I can’t see mention of it on theatreboard since it the venue opened, so a few words about it. Entrance is down the concrete drive directly in front of the entrance to the Menier. Toilets are before you enter the venue (so an interval queue might be in the rain). The performance space is square with most of the seating to front (benches like Young Vic), but there are some individual seats to the two sides. Their blurb says they have capacity of 110, but I counted about 90 seats, so might be a bit fewer for this production. There is a separate bar with a good range of drinks (and a little food). Staff nice and friendly. Overall a good small venue. Time will tell how well it does (especially with so many other small venues trying to make ends meet).

[charmedjean]

Muted was previously called "After The Turn" which was performed at The Courtyard Theatre in 2012.

They released a cast album in early February - you can listen to the songs on iTunes. I think they have rewritten/added new songs for this production at The Bunker.

itunes.apple.com/gb/album/muted-a-cast-album/id1079549333

I was reading some reviews online and they have received 4/5 star reviews for this production

[showgirl]

I was tempted to book for this but decided to wait for the reviews and am really glad I did, as though some of them have been encouraging, the most helpful information I gleaned was that, as charmedjean notes above, this is a revised version of After The Turn. I accept that it may be different from what I saw at the Courtyard but I'd have been really annoyed had I booked and only discovered this afterwards, as I would always prioritise totally new work. I didn't see anything in the promotional material about this and I realise the producers would not want to deter business, but they'd do better to be upfront about it than risk losing public goodwill.

[shady23]

I saw the After the Turn version and also the last outing at the Actors Church. Really enjoyed. The cast recording is also one of my most played!

Sad I couldn't fit it in my schedule this time around bit it is definitely worth seeing.

[talkstageytome]

Yeah I saw this on press night. I liked it and it had some good moments (and an amazing cast! Tori Allen-Martin especially really impressed me!) Wouldn't rave about it but would like to see it developed some more. I also wrote a review on it on my blog if it's of any interest vvv

[charmedjean]

Dec 12, 2016 19:19:41 GMT showgirl said:

I was tempted to book for this but decided to wait for the reviews and am really glad I did, as though some of them have been encouraging, the most helpful information I gleaned was that, as charmedjean notes above, this is a revised version of After The Turn. I accept that it may be different from what I saw at the Courtyard but I'd have been really annoyed had I booked and only discovered this afterwards, as I would always prioritise totally new work. I didn't see anything in the promotional material about this and I realise the producers would not want to deter business, but they'd do better to be upfront about it than risk losing public goodwill.

I'm not sure what information is contained on programmes, flyers etc, but they did mention it on a few online interviews that it was previously called After the Turn. 


"The early workshop version of the show (titled After the Turn) received a Broadway World nomination for Best Fringe or Regional Musical and a What’s on Stage nomination for Best New Musical"

www.theatre-news.com/news/UK/41630/Muted-A-new-British-musical-coming-to-The-Bunker



"Once we had a draft of the initial book, which at that time was called After the Turn, we managed to get an amazing cast together and put it on at The Courtyard as a workshop piece with a three-week run, on two weeks' rehearsal"

www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Guest-Blog-Playwright-Sarah-Henley-On-New-Musical-MUTED-20161110



"Muted came about in a fairly round about way. It started as a show called After the Turn and, unlike a lot of musical theatre projects, began with the music and the book came second" 

mytheatremates.com/interview-spotlight-on-muted-writer-sarah-henley/



Unfortunately I never saw the original production, but did catch it at the Actors Church with 5/6 of the original cast members.
Muted has almost a completely brand new cast, so it will be interesting to hear their take on the roles etc. 

[shady23]

Tori has one hell of a voice on her!

[dan]

I'd like to be able to see this as I loved After the Turn and got the EP Cast recording back when it was originally on. It had some plot points that made no sense, so I'm hopeful they were resolved for Muted. I was just listening to After the Turn today and love some of the songs.

[showgirl]

Yes, frustratingly, even with my unreliable memory the main impression I retain from After The Turn was how amazing Tori Allen-Martin was and that I needed to look out for any future appearances/work. So lo and behold, she appears on my radar again, only for the show to be the very one in which I've already seen her!

[schuttep]

I saw this on Sunday among a sparse audience, which was a shame. First act a little over-long but much better second act. And lovely songs beautifully sung by everyone: Tori in particular but also the WE veteran Helen Hobson.

Totally agree with bellboard27's review of the theatre/staff etc, although I did think the stage area was very much overlarge in comparison to the space allocated for the audience.