Review: FANNY, King's Head Theatre

In Calum Finlay’s Fanny, sibling rivalry and the forgotten women of classical musical occasionally seem barely more than handy pretexts for a superlative slice of Mischief-adjacent shenanigans. When Fanny Mendelssohn finds out that not only is one of her works a favourite of Queen Victoria but her lying toerag of a brother Felix is proudly taking credit for it, the enraged composer begins a madcap journey from Berlin to Buckingham Palace to set the record straight.

One of the founding cast of The Play That Goes Wrong, Charlie Russell takes on the lead role with panache aplenty and all the zeal of an excited seal, blending endearing drama with physical acrobatics and audience interaction. As the wronged sister largely forgotten by history, she treads the familiar path of a young woman bound by societal pressure to marry and have a family, and persuasively folds in her deep yearning to one day wield the baton on one of her own pieces in a concert hall.

Since the play debuted at Watermill Theatre almost 18 months ago, writer Calum Finlay and director Katie-Ann McDonough have refreshed both the script and the acting roster. Gone is the character of Clara Schumann (Fanny’s confidante and another real-life female pianist and composer whose own work was ignored or re-attributed) along with the rest of the cast except for Russell and Kim Ismay (as the imperious Mendelssohn matriarch). 

McDonough and Russell have worked together both on Mischief productions (including their latest outing The Comedy About Spies) and on the latter’s 2022 solo show Charlie Russell Aims To Please so it’s no shock to see the sublime chemistry and absolute trust shown here between director and star as well as the (mostly benign) influence of the Tony- and Olivier-winning company. Throw in fellow Mischief maker Jeremy Lloyd (exquisitely playing multiple roles as the overlooked brother Paul, a rhyming wharfman and a hilariously misunderstood cabbie) and this is a winning recipe whichever way you look at it.

Danielle Phillips is an utter gem as Rebecka, the youngest Mendelssohn child eager to see Fanny hitched so she can get on with marrying a maths professor she has her eye on. She comes into her own in the second half: once she arrives in London, she switches from being a supremely annoying sibling to a bloodthirsty heroine determined to see her sister get to the palace on time. Rounding out the cast, Daniel Abbot is deliciously evil as the duplicitous brother Felix happy to pass off Fanny’s creations as his own while (through little fault of his own) Riad Richie oscillates between grating and great as the punning painter Wilhelm.

Even if many of the usual Mischief features are present and correct — not least rapid fire verbal gags, convincingly painful slapstick, creative staging, well-rounded leads and brilliantly quirky oddballs — there’s still plenty which distinguishes Fanny from its Goes Wrong cousins. Finlay (who has worked off his mother’s early character study of Fanny and emphasises the collaborative nature of the writing with Russell, McDonough and producer Rebecca Gwyther) does well not only to introduce us to the family Mendelssohn but also the world of classical composing, an art form which requires its artists to imagine an entire orchestra in their heads as they plot each work bar by bar.

He masterfully pumps out the exposition, letting the audience pick up on cues themselves, and rolls out occasionally profound statements that bely the superbly silly nature of the pantomime antics. The slam-dunk gags and groanworthy puns may get the biggest reactions from those in the pews but it is the dialogue between family members that stays with you longest.

Fanny is an incredibly tight work which is just as incredible to watch. Even when something does go unintentionally wrong (for example, when Russell sliced clean through a bottle she was using for percussive purposes), it just emphasies the play's level of complexity.

Since its move in 2023, the King’s Head Theatre has been in a period of transition and rebuilding in their new home - could this note-perfect work be its first West End transfer? Fingers crossed.

Fanny continues until 15 November.