Sylvia Review
Sylvia
The Old Vic
(Review Complete)
Is Sylvia going to be the new Hamilton? The Old Vic was the setting for this compelling, funny high-energy musical about the feminist Sylvia Pankhurst.
With direction and choreography by Kate Prince, Choreography by Kate Prince, a powerhouse with a string of previous show successes, such as “Into the woods”, “Everybody’s talking about Jamie” to name just a few from a long list, brings a fantastic show full of hip hop, rap, soul and funk that is the sensational musical Sylvia.
Sylvia is the story of the women’s suffrage movement and their fight for the vote for women and their trials and tribulations to succeed and therefore making a better life for both Women and Men.
The music is by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde and is stirring, compassionate, as well as fast paced, which complements the dancing.
Kate Prince, who is the founder of the well-respected ZooNation dance company, creates a show that makes you feel good as you journey with the characters from history, journeying through their contemporary dance moves interspersed with comedy moments of humorous dialogue.
The whole show’s focus is Sylvia played by Sharon Rose, the daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, played by Hannah Kemoh (Understudy for Beveley Knight). Sylvia, who was rejected from the Political Union that her Mother Emmeline founded has various conformations with her Mother.
The show included Emily Davison’s fatal Epsom Derby protest and the hunger strikes within prison and the force feeding of activists.
The set and costumes were by Ben Stone and consisted of a well-designed monochrome set and brilliant atmospheric lighting, thanks Natasha Chivers’s, were a vision to behold.
The show has some very funny moments, For example . Winston Churchill’s mother Lady Jennie Played by Jade Hackett Just steals the scene, in front of an upstage Psychedelic screen.
Sylvia is a must see, before this powerhouse production closes. But I hope not for long. Kate Prince is an incredibly talented director, writer and choreographer. The journey you are taken on through her production vision is beyond words.
The creative team have created a well-structured, emotive and powerful performance telling this story of Sylvia Pankhurst. The performances flowed through effortless transitions, with each cast member playing their part, with passion and conviction. The dances are faultless, with every performing attacking their moves with the storyline in mind throughout.
The cast celebrated diversity and refreshingly, each dance had the freedom to show their own personality and expressed the choreography in their way without deviating much from the Kate’s brief.
Amazing singing assisted the movement with each member of the cast as strong as the next. Even with the Understudy for the performance we saw playing Emmeline Pankhurst. As I have said previous. The set was basic, but very effective. The set and costume allowed for the dancing, singing and storytelling take precedence.
We left he theatre feeling. Emotional, empowered and overjoyed at the amazing talented cast and creative team exploring a hard hitting topic with sensitivity, elements of comedy and excellent timed hip hop, rap, soul and funk references.
Reviewers Charlotte Louise and Alison Francis