Show: Treason
Society: Sheffield Theatres
Venue: Lyceam Theatre Sheffield, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 1DA
Credits: Created by Ricky Allan.
Type: Sardines
Author: Joanne Thornewell
Performance Date: 01/11/2023
Treason the Musical
Joanne Thornewell | 02 Nov 2023 13:56pm
Photo: Danny Khan
Treason the Musical is that rare thing – an original stage musical not using existing songs or based on an existing book or film. I was excited to review it and totally prepared to give it the full 5 stars. I wanted to absolutely love it, but it doesn’t quite live up to my perhaps too high expectations.
The history of Treason is well known and well laid out here. Under Elizabeth I, Catholics were persecuted and must worship secretly. The new Protestant king, James I, is initially more tolerant but shortly into his reign decrees Catholicism illegal and the persecution heightens. A group of Catholic conspirators devise the famous gunpowder plot to remove the king and his government, which famously fails.
The show opens with Guy Fawkes returning from the dead for a few hours until ‘the veil thickens to velvet’, a nice Shakespearean style nod to the fact that this is a performance in a theatre and the curtain will fall at the end. Gabriel Akamo as Fawkes is a strong almost permanent presence and along with the ensemble of Eyes acts as a type of Greek chorus to clarify events. The Eyes are all dressed in period costume in a nondescript grey and while they aren’t exactly backing dancers, their stylised movement during the numbers does add to the interpretation.
Nicole Raquel Dennis and Sam Ferriday as newlyweds Martha and Thomas Percy are initially very engaging, but as the show develops it becomes hard to warm to either character. They are unable to compromise or communicate and have no common ground. They are both exceptional vocalists but so much of their relationship is depicted by overlong sung arguments which might actually be better simply as dialogue.
Joe McFadden and Oscar Conlan-Morray as King James and Robert Cecil are both very watchable in their roles and provide a welcome element of comic relief. The scene where Cecil sits on the throne behind James’ back at the end of a very enjoyable number is excellent and clearly shows how James is manipulated. As chief conspirator Robert Catesby, Connor Jones also plays his role well with impressive vocals.
All of the performers are superb vocalists and the ensemble harmony work is simply lovely. However there are so many loud power ballads that they actually begin to lose their impact. The storyline with Fawkes becoming the scapegoat when he has hitherto had no involvement in the conspiracy at all is confusing.
The lighting and set are very effective. The lighting depicts 1605 well without being too dark to see clearly. The versatile set is very clever and the transformation from scene to scene is slick. The burning of Fawkes using lighting also works well.
The show was stopped a couple of times for technical reasons on the performance I reviewed –Â credit to the performers for picking it back up each time without any apparent issues. I can only imagine the confusion backstage.
Overall there is much to commend here, but it’s almost as though the whole doesn’t add up to the sum of its parts. With a few tweaks and a bit of tightening up, a hit show could easily emerge from this production. I sincerely hope it does.