Review: UNEXPECTED JOY, Southwark Playhouse

Take a feuding mother and daughter, a rebellious teenager granddaughter and throw in an outspoken lesbian feminist and you have the recipe for an unexpected treat at the Southwark Playhouse.

Unexpected Joy is a new musical, written by Janet Hood and Bill Russell, making its UK debut, and follows a turbulent week in the life of one family. Hippy baby-boomer Joy is planning a memorial concert for her late singing and life partner Jump, who she never married. After inviting daughter Rachel and granddaughter Tamara, Joy must pluck up the courage to tell them that she is finally getting married the day after the concert. To a woman.

Janet Fullerlove is wonderfully natural as Joy; floaty, flaky and funny, she wafts around the stage, hitching up her skirts as she sits with her legs apart and casually rolling a joint mid-song. Her opening song of "How Do We Go On" has a soft Sixties vibe, and she shows off a lovely tone in "I Think I'm Losing My Voice", but as the shows develops she is shown as the weaker singer of the four.

Jodie Jacobs does an excellent job in maintaining her role as a buttoned-up, right-wing evangelical who is vocal in her rejection of homosexuality as a sin. On paper she is a totally unsympathetic character, yet we still feel compassion for her as she expresses her deep disappointment in how her free-spirited parents raised her and how she herself is just trying to be a good parent. Jacobs is also a vocal powerhouse, with great soul and expression in her voice.

Her daughter Tamara is played by Kelly Sweeney, who makes a striking professional debut in the role. The petulance in her character is often funny, but occasionally verges on being annoying, What impresses is her singing voice. Powerful and precise, she blasts out Tamara's own compositions with gusto. "Like A Good Girl" is a perfect impression of the slight nasal quality of so many American indie-rock singers, and the emotionally delicate "When Will I Have My Own" is a highlight.

Joy's 'warrior lesbian' fiancée Lou is played assuredly by Melanie Marshall. With bold assertiveness and some great one-liners, she sparks well with disapproving Rachel, particularly in "You Are My Worst Nightmare". Although she shows a lot of attitude, a little more sass and swagger would not be unwelcome.

The plot hinges on the relationships between the characters. Nearly every audience member will empathise with Rachel's frustration at both her daughter's rude rebellion and her mother's non-conformity. In turn, we see how Joy despairs of Rachel's austere narrow-mindedness and Tamara's idolisation of her overly relaxed grandmother.

What fails to convince is the relationship between Lou and Joy, who come across as very good friends rather than having any loving or sexual spark between them. It seems quite unlikely that on the eve of your wedding you would not kiss your fiancée goodbye as you went off to finalise plans, as Lou does at one point.

It is an unusual musical in some ways, as there is a lot of spoken dialogue between songs. This is both well written and often very witty. Musically, the cast are well supported by the onstage musicians, who also double up as Joy's band. Individually the performers have their strengths, but collectively they work very well, with some beautiful harmonies in songs such as "What A Woman Can Do".

The penultimate track, "Common Ground", is a nice performance, but contains overly sentimental lyrics and feels slightly cheesy in its message of hope, changing hearts and finding compromise. It wraps up the story a little too easily.

Verity Johnson's design makes the most of the small space, with a dual-level platform that acts as Joy's house, rehearsal space and concert stage. Differentiation of scenes relies on mainly on lighting, which makes some scenes feel a little static. It would have also been nice to see some more distinctive costume changes to show diversity in scenes.

It is refreshing to see a story where four strong women are depicted in a production directed by a woman and with music written by a woman. Overall, this is a compelling and joyful production that manages to achieve balance between comedy and touching sentiment.

Unexpected Joy is at the Southwark Playhouse until 29 September

Watch our video interviews with the cast and creative team, and get a sneak peek!

Photo Credit: Pamela Raith Photography

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