In a review where I called it ‘one of the most riveting new musicals, I manifested a West End transfer of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button basically as soon as I left the Southwark Playhouse Elephant. But as the show says, it was just a matter of time before it would make the move. And just like that, it became my most anticipated show this year.
After following pretty much every chain of event leading up to this moment from its West End Live debut to even getting the incredible opportunity to attend rehearsals, how does The Curious Case of Benjamin Button now fare precisely one year and five months (approximately 44,841,600 seconds) after I fell in love with it?
I was gifted a ticket in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Cast
- Benjamin Button/Reverthi: John Dagleish
- Elowen Keene/Sterenow/Sheep: Clare Foster
- Mrs Bennett/Locryn/Keynvor: Anna Fordham
- Little Jack Trenlee/Mr. Bennett/Tonnow: Jack Quarton
- Mr. Gladstone/Lowen/Ebron/Landlady: Oonagh Cox
- Mary Button/Millie Dyer/Electrotherapist/Avoryow: Phillippa Hogg
- Mrs. Gladstone/Morlan/Landlord/Psychiatrist: Matthew Burns
- Gwyns: Katy Ellis
- Growan/Trenlee Senior/Captain Carrick: Jonathan Charles
- Treth/Morwenna Keene/Miss Moncrief/Maggie Moncrief/Doctor/Drunken Sailor: Ann Marcuson
- Mrs. Gladstone’s Sister/Tir/Jago Trenlee/Meryn Gladstone/Fisherman/Billy Tyne: Damien James
- Lanow: Elliott McKenzie
- Roger Button/Tewes: Benedict Salter
Rating: ★★★★★
What is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button about?
In a sleepy Cornish town, a man named Benjamin Button is born with a strange condition: He ages backwards. Locked away for years and following the loss of his mother, Benjamin’s first taste of freedom leads to him meeting local barmaid Elowen Keene. Forming a love so strong, Benjamin struggles with the trials and tribulations of life as time and tide threatens to keep the two apart.
What are my thoughts on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?
What made me fall for The Curious Case With Benjamin Button last year was the way Jethro Compton and Darren Clark took the concept of F Scott Fitzgerald’s story and turned it into its own original folk tale. Well, I’m happy to say its West End transfer keeps the pure magic and then some. Capturing every emotion you could feel in life from the highest of joys to the deepest of pains in two and a half hours, it avoids any mawkishness by balancing the romantic storytelling with grounded realism. For example, Benjamin’s fantastical wish to see a man on the moon comes true in the form of Neil Armstrong.
What immerses the audience into the fairy-tale like version of Cornwall for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is Compton’s set design, Anna Kelsey’s costumes and Zoe Spurr’s lighting. Fishing nets and buoys hanging above, fairy lights, a corrugated iron backdrop and wooden stairs give the world a rustic edge. Greens, reds, burnt oranges and yellows adorn Kelsey’s detailed costumes based around coastal workwear. Zoe Spurr’s gorgeous lighting adds the high romance of scenes.
There aren’t enough adjectives to describe Darren Clark’s folk music: enchanting, haunting, soaring, luscious, romantic, foot-stomping, soul-stirring, enthralling, vivacious, spine-tingling, tear-jerking. It’s the one element that kept me coming back and is without hyperbole among the best scores within our current new/original British musical renaissance. Hearing it live in the rehearsal room was enough to make me smile ear to ear, but it drove me to tears onstage. Whether it’s the rousing Home, raucous Shippin’ Out Tomorrow or catchy A Matter of Time, it’s impossible to choose one favourite song because they’re all equally as beautiful.
What has changed from the Southwark Playhouse?
As much as I would’ve wanted literally the Southwark Playhouse Elephant production of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on a West End stage, I knew changes would be inevitable as while the Ambassadors is an intimate theatre compared to other West End houses, it’s still larger than its previous venue. Already leagues different from its 2019 Southwark Playhouse Borough run which featured five performers and puppetry, a larger space means more room to play around, the most notable being Benjamin’s career endeavours taking him from the mines to fishing on the open sea (it is Cornwall).
The transfer also includes new songs which neatly fit with the rest of the score and contribute to the larger scale, with the soaring Western Wind opening the show. Alternate versions of Home and a rewritten Will You Go also appear.
What’s the cast like?
One thing that hasn’t changed from any run of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the sheer talent of its actor-muso ensemble. Seamlessly switching between multiple characters (and instruments) across multiple ages and genders through their mannerisms and expressions, they’re able to bring so much charm and depth in what little stage time some have.
Anyone lamenting the loss of Jamie Parker in the title role needn’t worry as Olivier winner John Dagleish is equally as compelling yet so unique in his take. Masterful in his physicality going from a wide-eyed hunched-back geriatric with a frog in his throat to a young man weighed down by the tragedies of life right before our eyes, he makes Benjamin’s physical and emotional journey worth watching as he falls in love, gets his heart broken and longs for a ‘normal’ life. It makes for one of the most honest and human performances you’ll see onstage.
Clare Foster makes love interest Elowen Keene’s transformation equally as fascinating. Starting as a brash and feisty twenty-something, it’s act two where her range truly shines and makes for the show’s rawest moments when she has to express her justifiable anger at Benjamin’s decisions. Add in a stunning set of pipes, her version of the eleven o’clock number Time will rip out your heart and crush it – that is when she’s not playing a sheep that gets run over by Mr. Bennett.
I can’t just name one or two highlights from the ensemble because every single person is wonderful. Philppa Hogg is stunning leading the haunting The Kraken’s Lullaby as Benjamin’s late mother Mary, Anna Fordham starkly contrasts the miserable Mrs. Bennett with Benjamin’s son Locryn, while Oonagh Cox is so convincing as Benjamin’s rambunctious daughter Lowen and burly Mr Gladstone (caught up in a hilarious love triangle between Matthew Burns’ Mrs. Gladstone and Damien James’ Mrs. Gladstone’s Sister).
Jonathan Charles is hilarious as Captain Carrick waiting for his wife after decades, Jack Quarton makes Little Jack Trenlee so endearing getting his sayings mixed up and the meek Mr. Bennett dreaming of divorce. Ann Marcuson brings so much humour and physicality to Mrs. Moncreith while Benedict Salter brings depth to Roger Button who easily could have been villainous is other hands.
What are my overall thoughts?
One of the most enchanting and life-affirming musicals in the West End right now, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button gave me everything I could’ve wished for its transfer. With one of the most gorgeous folk scores I’ve ever heard and starring one of the most talented ensembles I’ve seen, this is easily one of my top shows of 2024. Don’t waste time and see it as soon as possible. It’s a prime example of why the best new musicals happening right now are the ones that take the time to grow into the best version of themselves.
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