The Last Five Years – Paradise in Augustines

Never Ending Theatre’s latest production sees Ciaran Walshe and Sarah-Louise Donnely star in the two-man show that is The Last Five Years.  Now this show is no easy feat to pull off, having only two actors to tell the story over an hour and a half.   It takes a great amount of stamina and energy to sustain the audience’s focus and enjoyment for that long but Donnely and Walshe certainly pulled it off, giving an emotional portrayal of Cathy and Jamie’s marriage.

Jason Robert Brown notoriously composes scores that leave the musicians tripping over themselves, but this band handled it smoothly with only very minor slip ups.  I enjoyed seeing the band be featured on the stage – the level of musical technicality needed for this show is very much worth appreciating.   My one gripe musically was the sound levelling – I wanted to hear more!  This is a score that needs attack and heavy accentation, but because some instruments were quieter in the sound mix, we unfortunately did not hear this to its full potential.  Nonetheless, a very impressive band.

The direction was slightly uninspired but got the message across – for a young director, it is an impressive task to even tackle such a deceptively difficult show in the first place.  I did feel quite sorry for the actors as they had to hoist themselves up and down onto very high blocks and shift them about the stage by themselves all while singing.  But in all an enjoyable show, with plenty tickets up for grabs, so if you need an early morning fix of musical theatre, I would absolutely recommend this!

Reviewer: Jessie Martin

Reviewed: 7th August 2024

North West End UK Rating: