Review Roundup: What Did the Critics Make of BONNIE & CLYDE's Return to the West End?

Frances Mayli McCann and Jordan Luke Gage return for a limited West End season of the cult-sensation Bonne & Clyde following a sell-out run at The Arts Theatre.

The show is now running at its new home at the Garrick Theatre until 20 May. Did the critics think the show 'raised a little hell'?

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Aliya Al-Hassan: BroadwayWorld: The problem is that detail is too light and context is essential to gain real investment in the characters. Clyde's anger at his poverty and social injustice is clear, but Bonnie's conversion to a life of violent crime takes barely a moment, the Deputy Sheriff's longing for her goes nowhere and the pair's infamy among the public is curious, without enough exploration of the social pressures of the Great Depression. And although we all know that the pair die in a hail of bullets, their end feels oddly undramatic.

Domenic Maxwell: The Times: Even with reminders of family poverty, of the Depression, of Southern religiosity - cue gospel dancing so good that you long for much more of Winston's choreography than the show has space to offer - the context is only superficial in a show that is all about the context. When, late on, we are told that Bonnie and Clyde have captured the public imagination, you think: really? How? Why?

Fiona Mountford: iNews: The show famously lasted for just one month on Broadway in 2011 and, as it grinds on, one understands why. Quite how the creative trio of Ivan Menchell (book), Don Black (lyrics) and Frank Wildhorn (music) managed to take the sizzling story of those two infamous Texan lover/criminals and render it simultaneously devoid of romance and thrill is bewildering. Their end is pre-ordained - living fast and dying young was always going to be their lot - but it should be much more of a buzz for us to get there.

Nick Curtis: Evening Standard: Too glib to be serious and too po-faced to be a spoof, this Broadway musical about the Depression-era outlaw couplesuffers from a criminal lack of focus. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow killed around 13 people and became folk heroes during their early-1930s robbery spree. The show's creators can't decide if they are romantic rebels or vicious murderers. Hint: it's the latter.

Alex Wood: WhatsOnStage: While thematically richer than most musicals, Menchell's plot lines are slightly meandering, though director Nick Winston whips up a sharp pace that cracks through the tragic twosome's murderous time, never unnecessarily alighting. It means the show zips by faster than a 1934 Ford Model 40 B Fordor Deluxe sedan - high-octane musical thrills served by a top-notch company.

Paul Vale: The Stage: Winston directs with a contemporary approach, keeping the pace up and the staging to a bare minimum. But this is a production, rather like the musical itself, that can't decide on stark realism or musical theatre hyperbole. If there is a palatable musical route into the Bonnie and Clyde story, then neither Winston, Wildhorn nor the rest of creative team have discovered it.

Bonnie & Clyde is at the Garrick Theatre until 20 May

Photo Credit: The Other Richard

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