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We Could Be Heroes
Verdict: Anatomy of a would-be rock-star
London - Bridewell - 4-20 Nov 04 - 19:30 (21:40)
We Could Be Heroes is light drama with songs, written and performed by Richard Lumsden. It's in two acts, total running time 2hr-10min with 15-minute interval.
Richard Lumsden's stage character is a singer who finally makes it to Glastonbury after years of ambition. It's the character's last flash of defiance before being enveloped in middle age. The play is the story from schoolboy to stadium. It's told in fragments, flashing back from Glastonbury to snapshots of his life. Each mixes action and a song that sums up the particular chapter of life - and the century.
He's precocious, using his mother's makeup to flirt with New Romanticism and composing expert parodies of David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Neil Young while still aiming to become Deputy Head Boy. There's an Al Stewart melancholic phase as would-be love Natalie Wilson slips away from his dreams. Schoolfriend Bruce Belcher pimps schoolgirl Sally Furness for the singer, but she leaves too - marked by a song.
It's a life of moderate success, his ambition held back by a bashful humility. Plucking up courage as a child to dance Oranges And Lemons with Natalie fails him. He ends up dancing it with schoolboy Lloyd Jenkins instead. It's a piece of comic acting shot through with pathos.
Each success brings a realisation that nothing feels as good as it promises. There's an undercurrent of melancholy that counterpoints his achievements.
There's some funny deflation, as when his rock-god intentions look from the perspective of those he loves, like Jake Thackeray. Or, as an arms salesman he ends up writing music for puts it, 'Wishy washy fucking Jake Thackeray shite'.
The second half follows the singer as an adult through more with Natalie, hope, heartbreak, hope again, and towards the zenith of his Glastonbury performance.
We Could Be Heroes (the title's from Bowie's song Heroes) couldn't work without expert music, and Richard Lumsden is a gifted musician - on guitar, piano, mandolin, and as a singer. Crucially, the songs are good on first hearing. Most parody changing styles of music in the twenty or so years of the character's development. Words are often meaningful, but not to the point of pain.
The fragments of the character's life are skillfully written and acted. There's not enough story to last 130 minutes, but that doesn't matter - it's fun, and primarily an evening of songs with dramatic links. Each vignette at least moves the story forward, and some are sharp theatrical jewels.
One comedy highlight is a magnificently bad-taste wedding speech and song, guaranteed to ruin anyone's happy day. There's a superb Mike-Oldfield-Tubular-Bells-inspired scene, with the singer recording a song in his bedroom while playing all instruments simultaneously - including chains on his feet.
Songs range from the rock and roll Burn, to the haunting Some Of Your Planes (Will Come Down) and the stirring Bowie/Dylan-esque finale Fairy Tales.
There's strong backing from an equally expert band (Piano & Keyboards - Simon Walters, Drums - Mark Lloyd, Bass - Mat Elliot). There's a warm-up set from singer/guitarist Audrey Nugent.
Director Graham Gill keeps the action and pace tight. Designer Gary Campbell works visual magic with his sets and costumes. He expands the stage to left, right, front and back by skillful use of its surrounding areas - brought to life when needed by lighting designer Alistair Grant - and gauze. Just a few prop and minimal decorative changes take the action through a dozen or so locations. There's a light and sometimes humorous touch to Gary Campbell's design - such as the Marshall amp revealed as a beer-fridge.
Sound designer Richard Brooker and associate sound designer Mike Walker survive the night - a fine achievement for sound artists where live music mixes with theatre - helped by Tom Marshall's expert sound operation.
Alistair Grant's gifted and fiendishly complicated lighting design is delivered safely by Jemma Carpenter's lights operation and expert driving of the Bridewell's sophisticated rotating lamps. Jemma Carpenter, with wide experience in complex London and Edinburgh fringe and West End productions (A Weapons Inspector Calls, This Is Soap, Mephisto, Virgin Club) also delivers stage management with a crisp touch.
Production manager is David Lam, currently also The Cockpit's Technical Manager. He's assisted on this production by Amber Millington. Producer is Mathew Ashforde.
