6 - A New Musical by Zack Zadek

By E.L. Hardy

6 people. 6 years. 6 degrees apart... about 17/18 entrances and exits per musical number and a whole lot of (initially interesting and then distinctly irritating) staging, with a ladder and three empty suitcases.

6 - a new musical has very little to do with the number six. The premise sets out to explore how the lives of 6 seemingly disconnected people living in New York City are intertwined - but, other than the city, there's no significant or interesting connection between any of them at all. With gaping holes in the plot, no attention paid to the development of the characters and no reason to care about their 'connections,' 6 left me wondering, what's the point?

The show perches uncomfortably in form between a song cycle and a musical. Where is the book that it professes to have? There are four songs before the first scene, which then leaps out at us like a cat in a dark alley. With such ambiguity, it is unsurprising that the production falters.

The cast are strong - particularly Chloe Nicholson who has to trill from atop a ladder held horizontally in the air. The actors do as much as they can, despite the overcomplicated staging, to tell their half written stories. However, you're unable to get excited by their performances because, without radio mics, it is very difficult for them to be heard over the band (who are also extremely capable, but prevented from playing with any passion) - a frustrating waste of talent.

As far as musicals go, this is less saccharine than some new American writing (such as Scott Allan or Jonathan Reid Gealt) but it is still lacking the through line of Scott Evan Davis' Picture Perfect, for example, or the bite and drive of any Jason Robert Brown. In fact, one of the characters, Harvey - a young, successful businessman, played admirably by Steffan Lloyd-Evan, is barely distinguishable from Jamie in JRB's Last Five Years. He even sings I Got It All - a poor man's Moving too Fast.

It is admirable and vitally important to produce new writing. The score by Zack Zadek has mounds of potential and this production will prove intrinsic to the show's development; how else can a writer explore what fundamentally works, and what, frankly, doesn't? There are, of course, technical and financial limitations to be faced when bringing new work to the fringe, but what this production illuminates is gaping holes in the writing and direction rather than in the budget.

6 - a new musical with book, music and lyrics by Zack Zadek

TwentySomething

The Space on Northbridge

15th - 23rd August

21.15

★★★

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