Inside Giovanni’s Room by Phoenix Dance Theatre at Liverpool’s Playhouse was close to a five-star night out at the theatre.
For the majority of the audience, the tale of Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin’s 50s literary classic – was familiar. They knew the story of David (played here by Phikolwethu Luke), a young American torn between the world’s expectation of him and his own desires. The audience members who might have been unfamiliar with the book were enlightened with less of the facts and more of the feelings: which, in my opinion, made for an emotional and gripping story of sexuality and shame. Where certain details are lost – David’s relationship with his aunt and father – others are found: Giovanni’s inner world is lit up in a nightmarish dance at the start of the second act, where we’ve never gotten the titular character’s POV before.
Each design element conjured their respective feelings effortlessly. Melissa Parry’s costumes, the colours and textures, situated us immediately in a dreamy 1950s Paris, where Marc Strobel’s compositions – conversely creating a soundscape of harshness – made the drama soar. Jacob Hughes’ set consisted of a five-sided cube in centre stage (indeed, Giovanni’s room) that was used only in the moments of intimacy between David and Giovanni (here played by a brilliant Dylan Springer), and the risk in placing such a large unusable space for dramatic effect paid off brilliantly. Last but not least in terms of behind-the-scenes creatives, Marcus Jarrell Willis, the choreographer, is to be highly commended for bringing Baldwin’s triumphant work to the stage.
So much of the performance was glorious. The ensemble moments portraying a Parisienne gay club lighting up at night were magnificent (particularly Jacques, here played by Aaron Chaplin), and as mentioned before Giovanni’s own conflict was insightful and magnetic. But for all its glory, the second half of the second act seemed to take a nosedive. For a seemingly random period of time, the music (the magic man-made soundscape by Strobel) stopped (for the only time in the 90-minute piece) during Hella’s dance signifying her return from Spain, the silence only penetrated by David reading the words “my love” from her letter. The decision confused me so much I had to ask the kind Playhouse box office if it was a technical difficulty or not.
Otherwise, I understand that the less-electric second half was necessary, to an extent – David and Giovanni (whose duets are the most exquisite element of the show) only spend a short amount of time together; there has to be a denouement at some point. For the length of the show, I think the interval could have been done away with and the last fifteen minutes shaved down slightly, to compound the emotional elements that leave us returning to Baldwin’s book over and over again.
Reviewer: Anna Ní Dhúill
Reviewed: 5th June 2025
North West End UK Rating: