Review: The Mistress Cycle (From Page To Stage) at the Landor Theatre

The Mistress Cycle (From Page To Stage)

Landor Theatre

Reviewed on Wednesday 5th March 2014

Described as a 'musical tale of sacrifice, destruction and renewal', The Mistress Cycle is the final musical to run as part of Aria Entertainment's season of new musical theatre writing at the Landor Theatre, From Page To Stage. The musical has book and lyrics by Beth Blatt and music by Jenny Giering.

West End actress Caroline Deverill triumphantly takes on the lead role, Tess. As the performance begins Tess, a struggling 30-something photographer living in Manhattan, is made an offer by a wealthy, older man to “keep her” as his mistress. This stems into the rest of the piece which sees mistresses from different eras and cultures stepping into the spotlight to tell their stories and share their points of view.

The Mistress Cycle is a very well written musical as it doesn't feel formulaic. Although the all female cast take turns to have their moment centre stage, The Mistress Cycle does not feel predictable - it is a good ensemble show. The cast rarely leave the stage and the element of mystery is interesting. I spoke to several people who said 'it's very Sondheim' but personally I think it's a very unique piece

The idea behind The Mistress Cycle could be very strong with further development. If there were more secrets to discover an element of excitement would be added to proceedings. At present some stories are considerably weaker than others. I really enjoyed listening to the cast perform the score; different styles and influences are included but I think certain numbers could be even more adventurous. The piece introduces such contrasting characters which could be reflected in the music, taking musical numbers from one extreme to another.

The words "Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end" are spoken several times throughout the piece. However, the ending didn't conclude the story in a bold enough way which left me feeling slightly underwhelmed. Considering the lack of rehearsal time the cast give strong performances, some of the harmonies are terrific.

It's hugely important to support new writing and Katy Lipson must be commended for staging such a hugely successful season.

Reviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)

The Mistress Cycle runs at the Landor Theatre until Sunday 9th March, concluding From Page To Stage. Please visit www.landortheatre.co.uk for further information and tickets.

Photo Credit: Charlotte Hopkins

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