ORDINARY DAYS (Theatre Café/Pickle Stage Productions)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.thetheatrecafe.co.uk/shop/ordinary-days

Available until: April 6^th. You must watch the complete show within 24 hours.

Ordinary Days is about four young people. Jason is about to move in with his girlfriend Claire as he thinks this will help them to get closer, but Claire finds the idea difficult. Warren and Debs (she was Deb in the original musical, but this production calls her Debs) don’t know each other. He is a struggling artist working as a cat-sitter. She is a student writing a thesis. But maybe they have more in common than they think.

This musical was first performed in 2008. It has had three off-West End productions and the most recent ones were in 2017 and 2019. The Theatre Café is right in the heart of the West End, but it probably doesn’t count as a West End production.

I think Adam Gwon’s music and lyrics are good enough for the West End, but the musical is only an hour and a quarter so it’s not really long enough for an evening out. But one of the really good things about digital theatre is that it can’t be too short so this production is a great opportunity to get to know a really good and not very well-known musical.

The music is cheerful and fun and there are moments of real beauty too. The music is provided by musical director Ben Barrow, who plays the piano, and assistant MD Jessica Brydges, who plays the cello. The music is so beautifully arranged (Ms Brydges arranged the cello part herself), it is full of colours and textures and it never seems thin or in need of other instruments. The music is really lovely with just two instruments. I also like the way the musicians are in a pair, just like the two sets of characters and as a lot of the musical is about keeping things uncomplicated, it feels right not to have an elaborate accompaniment with lots of instruments.

The lyrics work well as lyrics, but they also tell the story really well and teach you a lot about the characters. It’s a sung-through musical (apart from the occasional spoken sentences) so there isn’t a book, which means the whole story needs to be in the lyrics, but I think it is all there. The story is interesting and easy to follow.

I really like the stories of the two couples. Lots of musicals are about people who meet and fall in love, but neither of the couples do this. Jason and Claire are already a couple at the start of the musical and Warren and Debs will never be a couple because Warren is gay. I do enjoy stories where people meet and fall in love, but there are so many other stories you can tell about people. Relationships that already exist can be just as interesting as new relationships, and friendships can be just as lovely as relationships.

The two couples (I’ll call them that even though Warren and Debs aren’t a romantic couple) never really meet. They are sometimes in the same place at the same time with their stories running alongside each other, but their lives are separate. It sounds a bit surprising when I write it down, but it actually works really well.

Dan Smith is the director and the designer. I like the way the characters move around the stage when both couples are on the stage together. It’s exciting seeing them being so close to each other but never quite meeting. I also like the way Claire keeps changing her clothes. It’s possible the others do as well, but Claire’s costume changes seemed the most noticeable and it suits her character as she seems very tense and anxious and nothing ever feels right to her. There is a set of blocks at the back of the stairs which is used in different ways like a coffee shop and a rooftop, which are both very different things, but with the music, the lyrics and the acting, you can always believe the blocks are what they’re meant to be.

The singers are all really good. Joe Thompson-Oubari is a kind, gentle Warren. I think Warren is the sort of character who is usually the comedy character because he’s so completely focused on art and is a bit uncertain socially and I really like the way that in this musical, he’s a serious character and Mr Thompson-Oubari’s performance is really sincere and not played for laughs. He contrasts well with Bobbie Chambers’ driven Debs, who has maybe forgotten how to have fun. Ms Chambers has some very fast music which is almost like a patter song and she has a lot of information to get across very quickly, but the words and the meaning are always really clear.

Claire has probably forgotten how to have fun too, but she is caught up in her past rather than her work and Nic Myers really shows how difficult it is for her to let her go. Claire can be a little bit unkind sometimes as she is so on edge and so worried about moving forward, but Ms Myers also shows that she is unhappy and quite scared. Will Arundell is a loving and patient Jason, but he also seems like a really strong person who is in control and genuinely trying to do the right thing. I love how interesting and how multi-layered the characters are, even though the musical is very short and there are no spoken scenes.

Ordinary Days is a really lovely musical and I hope it will get to the West End one day. Maybe it could be part of a double bill.