Raise a Little Hell at the The King’s Theatre in Glasgow this week at ‘Bonnie & Clyde’. Direct from the West End, this production is the epitome of live life fast. This astounding production makes for a fantastic night out with incredible performers, excellent direction and intricate and fascinating use of lighting, set and projections.
Alex James-Hatton as Clyde gave an effortless performance, his naturalism is what won the audience over. The portrayal of Clyde was heavily researched and developed, James-Hatton fully immersed himself in the character. James-Hatton’s attention to detail as an actor showed excellent discipline, using the most subtle character choices to further draw the audience in. What an incredible voice, he used an incredible blend of what can only be described as trained musical theatre, pop punk and some R&B style inspired riffs. This young performer gave one of the most encapsulating performances I have seen in Glasgow this year.
Katie Tonkinson as Bonnie was dazzling, she showed utter stardom. Tonkinson’s passion and love for her job fully shines through the character of Bonnie. Throughout the performance Tonkinson continues to surprise you by elevating her performance beyond the imagination, she grows from strength to strength. Her voice is extremely healthy as she effortlessly flows between her upper and lower register, though the power is really within her belting ability. Tonkinson carefully plays with the character of Bonnie, going beyond obvious character choices to get the audience on Bonnie’s side.
The chemistry between James-Hatton and Tonkinson is vital to the portrayal of these characters, their lust and passion for each other is so beautifully portrayed. The relationship has been so carefully created within the rehearsal room that the actors are totally comfortable with each other on stage, showing no inhibition, allowing the audience to buy into their whirlwind love for each other. Both the actors and the creative team have developed such a naturalistic feel to the relationships which is key to the story as a whole.
Catherine Tyldesley as Blanche gave an incredible performance, her emotional journey was extremely well paced and shocked the audience with the character’s decline. Tyldesley’s character choices when interacting with Bonnie were extremely interesting, the somewhat maternal nature, partnered with the parallel between the two characters was a lot of fun to witness. Tyldesley has an exceptional voice, her lower range was particularly impressive and created some phenomenal harmonies throughout the production.
Sam Ferriday as ‘Buck’ had incredible stage presence, he evaded obvious choices for the type of character he was playing and performed a more naturalistic type of “stupidity”. This creative take on a somewhat typical character, brought a further layer of empathy to the characters and their desperation to evade the cards they had been dealt. His relationship with Clyde was consistent and showed great energy. At times during some of the musical numbers I found that Ferriday struggled with diction, however, the overall performance was great.
Aj Lewis as Preacher was a beam of light, throughout the darkness Lewis used his role to bring joy and the parallel of light and dark. His delivery of his musical numbers were calming and his voice angelic. He used the build of the song to create exciting transitions to follow the journey of Bonnie and Clyde.
Daniel Reid-Walters as Ted Hinton left nothing to be desired, the characters growth is written quite fast and the character can become quite one note. Reid-Walters does everything he can to keep this character interesting and used smart character choices to display the conflict within the subtext of his delivery. Reid-Walters displays great vocal ability with his musical numbers, effortlessly belting and blending his voice. A fantastic performance.
The ensemble consists of: Jasmine Beel; Andrew Berlin, Michael Cortez, Oonagh Cox, Alexander Evans, Callum Henderson, Lauren Jones, Olivia Lallo, Nate Landskroner, James Mateo-Salt and finally Taryn Sudding. This ensemble creates a fantastic variety of characters which lift the storytelling of the performance. From comedy to corrupt police officers they really give you their all. The ensemble have extremely interesting choreography at times which feels more like movement and storytelling than dance, their individual choices within this creates very interesting dynamics and is visually interesting. The ensemble is built with rising stars who capture your eye throughout the production.
The book by Ivan Menchell excellently portrays the passionate relationship between Bonnie and Clyde while highlighting the sinister actions of their heinous crimes. Unfortunately, much of the story focuses on the officer who pines after Bonnie. The way the book is written encourages the audience to side with the criminals and therefore the impact of this character is completely lost. Although a difficult task, to portray the life and love of Bonnie and Clyde, it feels as if it is too big of a jump from the beginning of their relationship to the ending of their life’s – leaving a lot to be desired.
The direction by Nick Winston was astounding. The use of movement throughout to change the pace and atmosphere of the production was executed with such intelligence. Winston perfectly balances traditional styles of musical direction with new, exciting contemporary ideas. The use of projection throughout the piece was integrated to an exceptional level and elevated the overall atmosphere of the production. Winstons direction is exciting and worth keeping tabs on. The set and costume by Philip Witcomb are excellent. The set has so many intricate layers which were used to build and elevate the performance. The set has a striking visual effect and is extremely impressive in its multifaceted use. The set compliments the slick direction and benefits the performance’s fast pace. Lighting design by Zoe Spurr completely complimented the set, using warmth and ambiance to create an intimate surrounding. The sound design by Tom Marshall was used to elevate the more sinister context of the play and drive the emotiveness of the production. The video design by Nina Dunn was extremely effective, Dunns use of video integrated well with the set to transport the audience across environments and follow the timeline of the story.
Lyrics by Don Black and Music by Frank Wildhorn were extremely complimentary to the book, the style of music rang true to the authenticity of the performance. The lyrics drove the story and propelled us forward into the next stage of their relationship. At times the music felt slightly repetitive and one note, however, given the short span of time the motives of these criminals and their lust for fame and legacy it is not surprising that this was the creative decision of Black and Wildhorn.
‘Bonnie & Clyde’ is an exceptional show with a cast filled to the brim with unprecedented talent. The performers maintained an incredible energy from bell to bell, grasping the viewers attention and never letting it go and their continued development throughout the performance surprised the audience at each twist and turn. ‘How ‘Bout a Dance’ with one of the world’s most infamous couples and get yourself along to the Kings Theatre Glasgow for this extraordinary production.
Get tickets for ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ at Glasgow King’s Theatre and its dates in Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre here – https://bonnieandclydemusical.com/#section-tourdates
Photo Credit: Richard Davenport
Theatre Scotland 
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