Review: JAGGED LITTLE PILL, The Musical Based On Alanis Morrisette's 1995 Album Of The Same Name Opens At Sydney's Theatre Royal

Thursday 9th December 2021, 7:30pm, Theatre Royal Sydney

JAGGED LITTLE PILL, the musical made from Alanis Morissette (Music and Lyrics) and Glen Ballard (Music) hit album of the same name blends 90's angsty grunge rock with contemporary concerns with mixed results. Directed by Diane Paulus, supported by resident director Leah Howard, this jukebox musical with book by Diablo Cody and additional music by Michael Farrell and Guy Sigsworth presents a visually captivating combination of sound, light and movement even if the plot lines push the limits of how many social issues can be digested in one show.

The premise of JAGGED LITTLE PILL is that the Healy family are, at face value, the picture-perfect American family, an image that mother Mary Jane (Natalie Bassingthwaighte) seeks to perpetuate through her sickeningly boastful Christmas letter that has the truth of husband Steve (Tim Draxl), son Nick (Liam Head), daughter Frankie (Emily Nkomo) and her own 'flaws' deleted. The father providing for his family with long hours at the office is really addicted to online adult entertainment because he's unsatisfied at home. The sports champion son who has just received confirmation of a place at an Ivy League college is really the product of his mother's intensive pressure to succeed, leaving him unable to speak up when it matters. The adopted daughter's creative talents are being used to paint protest signs, when she's not making out with friend Jo (Maggie McKenna), a person who Mary Jane refuses to see as more than just a platonic friend while stubbornly refusing to acknowledge Jo's preferred pronouns. The greatest of these deceptions is Mary Jane's lies about how she's handling the aftermath of a car crash during the preceding year. The year that unfolds exposes the family's flaws while also bringing in a series of subjects from rape culture, sexual assault, gender bias, race, gender identity, prescription drug addiction, and insincere competitiveness that compound to make the work feel as it is trying to be too woke, thereby running the risk of watering down the power of the underlying messages with issue fatigue.

With the story centred on the family, Riccardo Hernández has created the impression of a home through the ability to illuminate the house shaped frames. These lines of light are supplemented by mobile video panels that add more context to the scenes while also having the ability to hide Peter Rutherford's (Australian Musical Director/Supervisor) 9 piece, perched above the rear of the stage. Gantries of rock concert lighting are revealed reinforcing the show's source material being grunge rock. Emily Rebholz's costume design draws on a contemporary grunge aesthetic, not that it seems to have changed all that much in the past quarter of a century, for the ensemble of dancers that support the emotional expression of the story. Other elements of the costuming help define the core characters and their evolution, from Mary Jane's activewear to ripped jeans and relaxed knit and Bella's (Grace Miell) on trend clothes to shapeless sweater and track pants while characters like Steve and Jo remain relatively constant throughout, more confident in their understanding of who they are.

Natalie Bassingthwaighte captures the essence of a middle aged upper middle class American mother caught up in making sure she makes other mothers look inadequate while subtly relaying that she's well aware of the 'games' she and the other activewear clad mothers are perpetuating in their saccharine insincerity. While she ensures that Mary Jane is all light and smiles it quickly becomes clear that the woman's attitudes to her children and their friends is fraught, reflecting outdated mindsets. The expression of her descent in Uninvited, drawn from the 1998 CITY OF ANGELS soundtrack, and supported by an impressively flexible dancer who poses as Mary Jane's 'body double' to physically express the emotion, is captivating.

As adopted daughter Frankie, Emily Nkomo conveys that the teen is still on a journey of self-discovery while already having some fairly firm ideas on right and wrong. She conveys that Frankie has never really felt like she's belonged and Mary Jane's ignoring of her heritage has just fuelled a resentment that she feels like she was a 'prop' Mary Jane used to make herself look good for showing charity by adopting a child that would stand out in their community. Nkomo balances an element of innocence and naivety with the mature awareness that is relatable in growing teens.

The other key figures in the work are Frankie's friend Jo and Bella, Nick's friend who he failed to protect from being raped. As Jo, Maggie McKenna delivers a powerful performance. They capture Jo's depth of emotional connection to Frankie while retaining an endearing aloofness in Hand In My Pocket and their simmering anger that works from startling stillness to boiling hurt is palpable in their rendition of the showstopping You Oughta Know. Grace Miell's presentation of Bella, forced to relieve her trauma is expressive in Predator¸ a song written specifically for the musical. As with most of the other musical numbers, the performer singing the role is echoed with an ensemble member dancing the work, helping to reinforce the lyrics. While at times this movement can overwhelm the underlying sentiment, it does prove to be very useful when the lyrics of the songs are lost due to the use of pop and rock songs in a musical theatre context, particularly if the audience is not as familiar with the source material. JAGGED LITTLE PILL is a more female centric story with the relationship between Mary Jane and Frankie being the key connection that is addressed in any significant detail though Tim Draxl does deliver a sensitive Mary Jane and Liam Head expresses the pressure that Nick feels in Perfect.

JAGGED LITTLE PILL will satisfy fans of Alanis Morissette's music and is engaging for those less familiar with the Canadian American's work. While it does have its issues with lyric clarity and overload of ideas that feel a little too contrived in trying to cover off every 'hot topic' it does express the complexity of families and relationships. There are some stand out renditions of the famous songs, reworked to fit the storyline and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's movement and choreography, overseen in Australia by Australian Associate Choreographer Adam Blanch, is inventive and captivating in its expression of various dance styles and use of the set pieces.

https://www.jaggedmusical.com/

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