BROTHER (Southwark Playhouse)*****

  

By Louise 

Link: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/livestream/brother 

Available until: Remaining performances on 6^th March at 3.15pm and 7.45pm. It’s possible the musical might become available for livestream in the future.

Southwark Playhouse have been really wonderful during the pandemic. Most theatres haven’t been able to put on performances, which is completely understandable, but that means the fact Southwark Playhouse have done so much is like a miracle. I think they’ve done six live performances which we’ve reviewed and probably others before we started reviewing. They’ve also managed to run their Future Voices scheme and put the finished works online and now they’ve started uploading the Southwark Elders Company’s work as audio dramas.

Their work is so varied too. Plays, films, musicals, concerts. I hope they know how well they have done and how much their work is appreciated.

Brother is one of their best. It’s a musical about two brothers called Jackson and Reid who have recently lost their mother, Cassie. Some of the musical is set in the past so we see their relationship with Cassie too. Their father has left. Reid is trans, which has brought its own challenges, even though Cassie and Jackson have accepted him as their son and brother. A girl called Iris wants to buy some of Cassie’s paintings, which would solve one of their problems, that they’re struggling financially. But they’re not just paintings. They’re all they have left of their mum.

Annabel Mutale Reed has written a really powerful book. The characters of Cassie, Jackson and Reid are all really strongly written. Iris is more of a mystery, but I think she’s supposed to be. She’s not part of the family. Robin Simões Da Silva, who also plays Reid, wrote the music and the lyrics. There are some really beautiful songs here which are full of emotion.

Jack Trzcinski is the musical director and he also orchestrated the musical. The characters accompany themselves on their instruments – Mr Simões Da Silva plays the guitar, Sam Peggs (Jackson) plays the piano and Georgina Lloyd-Owen (Iris) plays the cello. They all play really well and Ms Lloyd-Owen can even play when she’s standing up and walking around. I didn’t know cellists could do that! My mum plays the cello and she always sits down.

Director Tom Jackson Greaves has quite a disordered set, which is conventional for artists and for two young men living together. It also shows that their lives and their minds are disordered. (I mean that they are struggling with losing their mum. I am not saying that being trans is a disorder because it’s not. Reid always had the right mind. It was his body, his name and everything that came with being female that was wrong for him.) The production has what I would call relaxed social distancing. They don’t stick to the two-metre rule, but they do keep at a bit of a distance and they’re careful of how they touch, but it is all made to look very natural. It also means that when there is physical contact, it means even more.

The performers are all really brilliant. Mr Simões Da Silva is really touching as Reid. It feels like a very honest and authentic performance and although Reid isn’t perfect, there is something very appealing about him. He also has a really beautiful singing voice and he conveys emotion really well.

Sam Peggs is excellent as Jackson, always working so hard to keep things together. He’s firm sometimes because someone has to be, but he’s also very caring. Melanie La Barrie has a really strong presence as Cassie. She is dreamy and creative but really loving and warm and of course her singing is brilliant. Georgina Lloyd-Owen’s Iris is understandably tense and awkward, but there’s no doubt of her admiration for Cassie and she’s very sensitive in the circumstances.

This is a really lovely and enjoyable musical. It’s possible there will be an opportunity to stream it in the future as that has happened with most of the Southwark Playhouse’s works, but this is so good, you might be better off booking it now and not taking the risk of missing it. It’s moving, meaningful and real.