I arrived back at the Regent’s Park Open Air theatre to watch them kick off their 2023 summer season with a revival of Once on this Island. This 1990 original musical retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson version of the little mermaid tale, was set against the heat of the Caribbean sun, in the jewel of the Antilles.
Once Upon This Island tells the story of the unending love of peasant girl Ti Moune for a boy Daniel. Where we will see if love can overcome death and settle a wager made by the Gods.
The story and told through the staging of informing two young girls about their culture, within a fairy tale structure. Ti Moune is an innocent girl who longs for something more than the normal day to day life she lives “Waiting for Life”, she becomes the figure of interest of the Gods of Haitian Voudou religion who send Daniel to test whether love can overcome to death. The story delivered was very fast paced with punchy songs however due to this fast pace the story felt slightly difficult for me to follow at times.
The director Ola Ince did a lovely job utilising the atmosphere of an Open-Air theatre with its trees and natural ambience to enhance the island vibes of the show. However, the attempts to explore themes of racism, colourism and classism did not feel well fleshed out, I think it was hard to fully stick to those themes in such a short run time.
We were introduced to the show through the opening song “We dance” which was a fantastic introduction into the world and to the company. Throughout the show the company were on point. A standout for me was Gabrielle Brooks who plays Ti Moune, her voice was transporting, and she portrays the naivety of a young girl, we can feel her joy and her sorrow. Her counterpart Stephenson Ardern-Sodje who plays Daniel did a great job with his choices for the character. He tried not to make him feel like a complete villain and he was successful, it made Daniel’s choices harder to watch. However, his character does feel stagnant throughout the show.
The music of this show was delightful, my favourite song theme was “Forever yours” which has an addictive melody, the band was very good at making songs feel full, with the drums giving an island feel to the music.
Choreographed brilliantly by Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy, especially for scenes where we weren’t sure if it was reality, was good for conveying unspoken conversation and intimate interactions between characters. The costume design by Melissa Simon Hartman was amazing, the introduction of the chorus with outfits reminiscent of locals of Caribbean islands. We can easily differentiate between times when we are in the story verses when we are watching the peasants tell the girls a story. She also does a fantastic job with designs for the Gods, their costumes embody their characters, a highlight was for me Asaka’s costume.
This story invited me in to see a love that could conquer death and how different that may look at second glance compared to your first thoughts but falls short exploring some of the themes it introduces.
It showed the equal importance of love and forgiveness, a subject often glossed over in our lives.
Once on this Island is on at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre until June 10th. Tickets are available here: https://openairtheatre.com/whats-on
Reviewer: Zara Odetunde
Reviewed: 17th May 2023
North West End UK Rating: