Review: THELMA & LOUISE, Young Vic

There has been a rise in musicals based on classic movies in recent years, with titles as diverse as Midnight Cowboy, Indecent Proposal, and The Devil Wears Prada all gracing the London stage. Now it is the turn of Thelma & Louise, the 1991 buddy-comedy road movie about two friends who find heading out for a weekend fishing trip more eventful than they planned.

CALLIE KHOURI adapts her screenplay in tandem with Neko Case's music and lyrics. They take inspiration from Southern country and rock themes to craft the world of this show.

The set (by scenographers Christine Jones and Brett J. Babakis) is sprawling, detailed, and atmospheric, offering neon, enamel, and a few surprises as the women move from bar to the open road.

The performances are led by Amy Lennox and Rachel Tucker, both sharp and driven women affected by trauma but pushing past it on their own terms. They are invincible, vulnerable, and sharply funny.

Thelma (Lennox) has an abusive and sexually repulsive husband, and quickly sniffs out a way to freedom. It's a part that takes risks and has to show a rapid maturity. She could simply be read as naive, but there's a yawning loss for what might have been. Louise (Tucker) has armoured herself through years as a waitress dealing with over-attentive and disparaging patrons. She is the grounded one, but by Act Two, her past catches up in a heartbreaking solo as her protective layer collapses.

Then there are the supporting players. Hal (Trevor Dion Nicholas), the sympathetic cop, is now black, adding a sense of his peers not just being institutionally misogynistic, but also racist. He's clearly fought for his place, and isn't about to give it up. JD, the role of the charming, crooked drifter played by Brad Pitt in the film, goes to Jordan Luke Gage here, and he's definitely channelling his earlier work in Bonnie and Clyde.

The ensemble keep things moving from the moment Louise pulls the trigger and saves Thelma from rape by the local 'ladies' man', through to the iconic leap into infinity. There's no car, but the lighting by Natasha Chivers and sound by Gareth Owen make convincing stylistic choices to compensate.

Notably, we are now over three decades on from the original film and yet women can still identify with the themes here of oppression, manipulation, and exploitation.

Ryan Dawson Laight's costumes deserve praise across the board for period accuracy and pointed comment, while director Trip Cullman and choreographers Bobbi Jane Smith and Or Schreiber keep the action moving across the space.

There's always something to catch the eye in Thelma & Louise. As for the songs, occasionally a lyric doesn't quite catch, but every song has its place in moving along plot and characterisation. Thelma & Louise works as a musical and, more importantly, matters as a comment on why these two made the choices they did. 

Thelma & Louise continues at the Young Vic until 24 October.

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