Review: CHILDREN OF EDEN, Union Theatre, 16 August 2016

One of Christopher Hitchen's many quarrels with religion concerned how it infantilised adults, buried individual decisions about how best to manage risk, deal with consequences and accept responsibility under a suffocating blanket of rules all set within the paradigm of a "family", its father (literally) omnipotent. There's quite a lot of that Hitchens view in Children of Eden, Stephen Schwartz and John Caird's 1991 West End musical revived at the Union Theatre in a punchy, energetic production.

In a spectacular opening number, "Let There Be", the universe (no less) is created by the movement of the ensemble cast, choreographer Lucie Pankhurst well up to about the biggest job she could have imagined. Soon God is a little bored with his handiwork (frankly, I'd have stopped at the penguins and been satisfied with their antics, but not Him) so He fashions a man and a woman in his own image ... and they start to behave like men and women do, much to His annoyance. Challenged as to what is "beyond" and why the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is forbidden, God becomes brittle, insecure and vengeful and - oh boy - can he bear a grudge!

Come Act Two, the action sweeps forward to The Flood, with Noah gathering the animals and then quelling a rebellion when Japheth's lover, Yonah, is found as a stowaway (she bears the Mark Of Cain, God's punishment for Adam's son's murder of Abel, one that stretches across generations). But, just as all hope seems lost, with provisions all but exhausted (and the chickens and cows no doubt feeling very nervous), Noah accepts Yonah and the dove of peace brings forth its Olive Branch and all would be well in that part of the world forever more...

If the book veers uncomfortably from sugary-sweet praise of the family, especially in its most traditional construction with patriarchy barely even questioned, to the lurking threat of a God with whom Noah and others share a dysfunctional, highly personal relationship, the songs are much easier to get along with. Under musical director Inga Davis-Rutter, melodies from a range of musical styles (gospel, natch, but calypso, rock and power ballad all get an airing) provide the accompaniment for some wonderful singing, particularly in chorus songs like the second act opener, "Generations".

The cast, many playing multiple roles and most doing some lovely work with Darcy Collins's puppets, work hard in a warm, if not quite oppressive, space in the Union's new location just across the road from its longtime hothouse home. Stephen Barry as Adam/Noah shows that the Garden of Eden provided plenty of protein to eat, spending the first 30 minutes or so shirtless and very buff, but singing pleasingly.

Most voices are good (London seems to be enjoying a glut of strong, clear singers just now), with Natasha O'Brien's "The Spark of Creation" and Nikita Johal's "Stranger in the Rain" the standout numbers. Though there's no real showstopper (I half-expected someone to belt out "The Age of Aquarius" at any moment) there are no real clunkers either in a show that's easy on the ears and, with lots of flowing linen costumes, easy too on the eye.

If a slightly hippyish, New Age retelling of two familiar stories from Genesis is your kind of thing, then Children of Eden will delight you. For the rest of us, we can enjoy live music played well, good songs sung well and, perhaps, reflect that parenting has been a bit of an ordeal since, well, the very dawn of time. No wonder my kids won't do the washing up!

Children of Eden continues at the Union Theatre until 10 September

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