BWW Reviews: Maya, Barons Court, January 24 2011

Kate Finburg

Imagine if Indiana Jones was reworked as a musical and you might come close to Maya, A Stage Kindly's latest production at the Barons Court Theatre.

Dreamt up by writer Rick Williams who spent considerable time in South America exploring the temples and ruins of Southern Mexico, this is the story of a Mayan King (Brendan Riding) whose people are in dire jeopardy due to a prolonged drought.

The King decides to employ Che (Sam Ferriday), a charismatic but shallow son of a prophet, to help him lead the people out of their predicament and also provide a potential heir to his kingdom by marrying his beautiful but headstrong daughter, Leika (Jessica Anne Ball).

However, Leika is torn between her feelings for Che and his brother Alma (David O'Mahony) the more sensitive and intelligent member of the family. Will this cause friction between the brothers or can they come together to find a solution to their thirst?

This is a coming of age story with both the brothers and Leika forced to confront their destinies.

Despite wearing what looked like multi-coloured surgical scrubs, the cast have ludicrously strong voices which really shine in the more intimate family and couple scenes.

The more up-tempo numbers suffer slightly from the limited space at the Barons Court Theatre; the cast's attempts at tribal dance left me fearful they were going to knock over everyone's interval drinks.

Yet the small space also provides intimacy like you can never get on the big London stages and the man to sitting to my left was in tears at least twice during the second half which has more twists and turns than a Peruvian labyrinth.

So whilst it's not quite the Holy Grail of musical theatre, Maya is still worth making a crusade to Barons Court for (groan).

Maya - Barons Court Theatre, until 30 Jan. £15 (£12 concs)