Dark of the Moon - Charing Cross Theatre - Review

Oh, the ordinary life of Buck Creek, wooden cabin village in the shadows of the Smokey mountains, all harvest moon celebrations, couples chosen and promised to each other by their parents and there’s silver in them there mountains. Quaint, simple, and oozing with superstition. There’s a rumour of strange magical beings in the mountains, and a story from long ago of a mountain man with magic and exceptional guitar skills coming into town.

Barbara Allen (Lauren Jones) doesn’t wish to stick to tradition, she’s wishes for more beyond a life of marriage and children despite the fact she is promised to Buck Creek popular boy Marvin (Samuel Murray). She wants her life to mean more than that, and in her dreams she dances with a mysterious boy who awakens something in her, she feels him with her, and wishes to see him. But he’s just a figure of her imagination. Or so she thinks. John the Witch Boy (Glenn Adamson) is, in fact, very real. And he’s fallen head over heels in love with her, visiting her dreams and walking invisible alongside her. Desperate to be with her, John begs the Conjure Man and Women (Gary Turner and, at this performance, Gemma Maclean) to make him human, even if it means giving up his immortality. They agree but he only has exactly one year to make it work, and there are rules and conditions he needs to meet. Can he succeed and live a life where he can feel love for real?

Glenn Adamson, famed for his rock star performances in Bat out of Hell, becomes John here. Desperate to be with Barbara Allen, all wide eyed in love and wanting to please, he thinks little of leaving his magical life behind to be with her. As the audience we know the rules he has to follow, the fine line he has to tread, and we will him on to succeed and learn to hate those who trouble him, those who judge him. Adamson is able to convey that strong  energy, with vocals that fly through the powerful rock anthem style songs of the mountain creatures and ease through softer ballads and lovers duets, a tough man on the outside but soft and loving as John learns  the true emotions and conditions of the human race.

As Barbara Allen, Lauren Jones creates a figure of girl power independence. She sees the other girls around her with their partners, thinking of the futures that past generations have laid out for them, but she wishes not to follow that path. She has bigger ideas, and throws herself into being with the mysterious exciting John, a stranger in their tiny tight knit community. Everyone tells her she shouldn’t, but she knows her own mind. Jones’ act one number Wildflower is a highlight, painting Barbara as a girl who knows she’s different but who isn’t afraid to show it. And alongside Adamson, the pair thrill through a number of delightful numbers such as ‘With This Ring’ and ‘Maybe’, becoming convincing as a partnership willing to do anything to be together, against the odds of both townspeople disapproval and magical creatures interference. One thing I don’t quite get is why she was called by her full name Barbara Allen pretty much every time she is referred to, because no one else was. Not sure if it was just a way to make her look even more different to everyone else, but it was never explained.

Gary Turner’s Conjure Man is strong if a little overshadowed and pushed around by the Conjure Woman, played here by Gemma Maclean. He seems to have more control of Devin, Raven and Arwen, (Jordan Broatch, Al Knott and Appolilly Szwarc) three spirits of the coven, but she is the one with the power to transform John into a human and the desire to make him break the rules, sending him back to them. A strange family dynamic almost is created in this rock music singing, always partying type coven and it’s fun to see Broatch, Knott and Szwarc do everything they can to convince John to return, showing him everything he is missing. The mountain folk make for interesting, entertaining characters but it would perhaps have been nice to get a little bit more of the Conjure Man’s story, that seems only brushed upon for a plot point.

As Barbara’s parents Thomas and Gemma, Thomas-Lee Kidd and Sue Appleby as the image of what is right in Buck Creek, loyal to each other since the day they were promised to each other and the hard working parents to two including Barbara’s guitar playing brother Floyd (Wills Mercado).  It is Mercado who perhaps earns some of the biggest laughs of the piece with his questionable guitar songs and excitement over the suspicions surrounding John. And his relationship with Ella (Sophia Duncan) is very sweet. At this performance the role of Preacher Haggler was played by Nick Wyschna, a pivotal role delivered with heart and care. The preacher of a small community knows everyone and must be there to support and guide, with Wyschna doing this with a cheeky glint in his eye.    Samuel Murray’s Marvin, the town’s Mr Popular, commands attention and clever distraction, a fork on the path leaving the audience excitedly unsure about where the story is going.

The music by Lindy Robbins, Dave Bassett and Steve Robson is a balancing act of styles. The residents of Buck Creek favour folk and bluegrass, where the magical beings belt out rock, illustrating the differences between the two worlds. The songs are catchy and fun, but that being said it did take a couple of songs into the show for the volume levels to settle and for every lyric to be clearly heard over the music, perhaps a downside to the cosy and intimate setting of the Charing Cross Theatre. At least at this time they didn’t have to argue it out with the noise of trains rattling overhead, what with the station above currently being closed.

I have to shine a light (no pun intended) on the lighting design by Jonathan Chan, bathing the villagers in sunshine and the mountain folk in a hazy purple light, particularly in the scenes in which they are walking among the humans for it really creates that divide and in dramatic moments darkness is cleverly used to allow for quick, effective transitions that have the audience on the edge of their seats.

Overall, Dark of the Moon is an exciting supernatural romance that feels fresh, new and captivating. It’s adventurous exploration of small town prejudice, superstition, love and breaks from tradition feels refreshing in a west end of long running hits, drama and screen to stage adaptations, providing an entirely different kind of experience.

Dark of the Moon runs at the Charing Cross Theatre until 8th August, but hopefully this won’t be the last we see of it.