BWW Reviews: PAYBACK THE MUSICAL, Riverside Studios, June 14 2013

I don't know what the Portuguese is for Zeitgeist, but it would be a useful alternate title for Payback The Musical, a slice of pop culture that is so very "now" that most of it takes place in 2016.

The eponymous Payback is a Jeremy Kyle-style daytime TV show in which absent fathers are tracked down and compensation awarded to their abandoned offspring (a "Find The Running Man" - if you will). Cue plenty of jabs at chavs, bleats about tweets and hype about Skype.

When boy from Brazil, Guilherme applies to the show in the hope of winning "compensation", producer Sam sees a chance to shaft presenter Matt Matthews and revive the show with the comeback of 90s rock legend Billy Life (think Graham Norton crossed with Tom Jones), who may, or may not, be the favelado's father. As a perfect storm brews - reality TV unravels.

If writer Paul Rayfield's targets are soft and stereotyped, it doesn't distract from an ambitious, if slightly flawed, New British Musical! The songs are catchy, even poignant at times, and there's some good gags, especially in the drop-in video sequences. It's always good to hear unamplified singing, with Katie Bernstein and Howard Samuels equally impressive in wildly contrasting styles, projecting across the full width of the stage. Some of the other voices are drowned a little by the live band's inexplicably loud playing, the volume cranked up through giant speakers - the Riverside Studios' space is not an easy one in which to stage musicals, and I hope this issue can be addressed.

The best thing about Payback is its fearlessness in deciding what it isn't - it's not a jukebox musical, it's not a D-list celebrity vehicle, it's not a transatlantic crossover and it's not an adaptation of an old favourite. It's not all perfect either - but it's bold, new and British and it deserves to see its confidence rewarded.

Payback the Musical continues at Riverside Studios until 30 June.

Photo Phil O'Connor Sportive Photo Limited

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