Review: BALLAD LINES, Southwark Playhouse Elephant

A journey through time and memory, Ballad Lines must be one of the most exciting new musicals to hit the stage in some time. We follow Sarah, an American queer woman, as she dives headfirst into her family’s roots. Through the centuries, the same melodies come back to link the women who came before her. It’s a story about female anger, patriarchal conflict, sacrifice, and the deep cathartic pull of feminine energy. Blending traditional folk music from Scotland, Ireland, and the Appalachian mountains with standard pop, Finn Anderson and Tania Azevedo write a visceral reminder of the power of choice.

A cardboard box full of cassette tapes recorded by Sarah’s aunt, Betty, frames a pulsating quest into generational trauma. Songs become oral tradition. Betty introduces her 17th-century Scottish ancestor before delineating the route that took her lineage all the way to West Virginia. We meet Cait, the wife of a minister in rural Scotland, and Jean, 15 years old and five generations down from Cait, who lives in Ulster. The same ballads (“The Four Marys” and “Queen Among the Heather” to name a few) and haunting harmonies connect them like blood. Under Azevedo’s direction, Sarah watches the distant past come alive in her and her girlfriend Alix’s living room.

TK Hay’s set design channels the folk genre and marries it with themes of relocation. The stage is in the shape of a ship, and a hanging wooden structure resembling a hull hovers above it. The outline of mountains backs it. While Cait and Jean face their own struggles back in time, Sarah is confronted by the societal expectations that have united women across history. It’s a wake-up call that will change her life and her relationship forever. The piece is rooted in a profound reflection on motherhood and the universal experience of womanhood.

From the reasonable fears that trouble all young women to the harrowing doubts that overrun them, Anderson and Azevedo crack open the subject matter with a delicate touch. Numbers like “Unexpected Visitor” and “Words Are Not Enough” approach the question of motherhood from contrasting perspectives. It’s a charged decision to have Cait, married and settled, desperately seeking to remain child-free, but Jean, single and wild, positively wanting a baby. This dichotomy is never fully unpacked, but it focuses the discussion on choice: what happens when it’s given, when it’s removed, and when it’s forced upon someone. It also puts Sarah’s ability to independently and autonomously choose in a different light.

Sonically, the musical is a gem. Fiddle-heavy tunes and thumping folk rhythms blend with accordions and guitars. Otherworldly acappella dots the score, as do exhilarating choral numbers (choreographed by Tinovimbanashe Sibanda) that portray moments of sheer joy or unbarred rage. The rare solos are revealing soliloquies – “Secondhand Shame” gives us a broad idea of Sarah’s upheaval, while “Out of the Dark” is a tender epiphany – but the strength of the work lies in its ensemble nature. The cast of eight works in sophisticated synergy. 

Frances McNamee leads with an assured hand as Sarah. She offers her insecurities but hides her heartache, opening up when she’s alone with her thoughts. As her genealogy (Rebecca Trehearn, Yna Tresvalles, and Kirsty Findlay) interacts around her, her world expands into areas that Alix (Sydney Sainté) doesn’t want to accept for very valid reasons. Ally Kennard, the only male actor in the company, is antagonist and confidant according to the timeline, adding further strife to the narrative or becoming the key adversary as the representative for a patriarchal society.

It might have taken almost a decade and a name switch for Ballad Lines to reach London, but the wait was worth it. It’s refreshing to see a brand new original musical that completely revolves around womanhood. It might be a bit corny here and there, but it’s a solid celebration of women’s endurance as well as the role of music and its influence on our lives. The score and the plot are equally engrossing; the direction and performances are inspired. Contemporary musical theatre is in good hands.

Ballad Lines runs at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 21 March.