Review: THE VERGE OF FOREVER, The Other Palace

This new musical is performed as a song cycle just over an hour long and follows the story of two teenagers both keen to pursue a career in acting and theatre, as they apply to drama school. The premise for this show is full of potential, and there is plenty of talent involved, but unfortunately a somewhat incoherent and not particularly compelling narrative mean that the show fails to deliver to be the showstopper performance which it could have been.

The introduction to the two characters, Leo and Marie, performed by Finlay McKillop and Scarlett Ayers in their respective songs is slightly hard to follow, but their introduction to each other in the "Instagram Tango" is a joyful and entertaining moment.

The music and lyrics, by Olly Novello, pull from influences all over theatre history from Shakespeare and beyond. The titular finale is the highlight of the show, and closes out the show with a well performed number which will be a definite earworm for most of the audience. However, many of the other musical numbers bounce between themes and topics without enough of a narrative thread to hold them together. It would seem that the intention is to create multi-dimensional characters, but sadly the actual result means that the majority of the musical numbers are disjointed and actually limit the character and narrative development.

Unfortunately with these issues it was hard to relate to the characters and without an emotional connection, the narrative just didn’t deliver where it could have done if there was more empathy with the characters. The enthusiastic performance of Leo by Finlay McKillop is at times rather over the top, which is no surprise given that he was nominated for Best Newcomer at The UK Pantomime Awards this year. He is clearly very talented, but for this production, a subtler more nuanced performance might have helped to create the much needed emotional connection between audience and character.

Despite the issues, there are plenty of enjoyable moments within the show. Additionally, the space within the studio of The Other Palace is utilised well and a well designed set make great use of the stage.

Whilst this show maybe isn’t all that it could grow to be in its current form, it is worth remembering that it is a show about teenagers; just like these young characters, the show is finding its feet in the world and still has the potential to grow and improve.

The Verge of Forever is at The Other Palace until 20 August

Photo Credit: Holly Burton

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