A romp through the life of esteemed theatre director, Joan Littlewood, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) brings her story to life through music and dance in Miss Littlewood.
Born in London, Littlewood leaves her single-parent home for Paris, before attending the Royal Academy of the Dramatic Acts. Eventually rejecting its constraints, she then walks to Manchester and takes over the unsuccessful Theatre Royal Stratford East. Fashioning it into her own company, the radical Theatre Workshop, she becomes a revolutionary director.
We follow her journey trying to find a home for the company alongside Littlewood meeting her life partner, Gerry Raffles (Soloman Israel).
The years pass with Littlewood’s repeated failure to gain Arts Council funding as well as Gerry’s continuous infidelity. Leaving and then returning to Gerry after a short romance with architect, Cedric Price, we see the start of her great professional relationship with Barbara Windsor and the curtain fall on her story with Gerry.
There’s an irony in having the story of a deeply anti-establishment director told at the RSC, but writer, Sam Kenyon and director, Erica Whyman and never shy away from this. Instead poke fun at this and entertain with a spectacle of clever storytelling, song and dance.
Only One Miss Littlewood?
When telling a biographical tale with such a huge passage of time, it’s tricky to show the ageing of characters. Plus the encapsulating all facets of their identity in one performance.
The RSC’s production of Miss Littlewood neatly turns this to its advantage by casting several actresses in the principal role.
Emily Johnstone, Aretha Ayeh, Sophia Nomvete, Sandy Foster, Amanda Hadingue and Dawn Hope all play the tour-de-force. While passing around her trademark cap, they step out from the supporting cast to bring different elements of her personality.
It’s a joy to see all these women of different ages and backgrounds on stage. It’s a move that you feel the late Joan Littlewood would have deeply approved of, focusing on talent rather than ‘rules’.
In fact, Nomvete gives a winning performance. She charms with all the confidence of a young radical before showing a tender vulnerability when falling deeply in love with the slightly younger Gerry.
Of course as a musical, there’s the challenge of keeping up with all the singing and dancing in a demanding role.
Some of the Joans sadly fall short of this with the uproarious music overshadowing their voice. Nevertheless, this gave more room for other lead actresses to really astonish the crowd.
Akin to her role in the Duchess of Malfi, Ayeh captivates for a second time as the second youngest Joan. She has a truly incredible voice that soars to fill the entire theatre.
Another interesting Joan (Clare Burt) is the one helping to create the “play”. In an unusual narrative device, this production uses meta-theatre to depict the oldest Joan working in conjunction to create a play of her life with the other Joans.
The most self aware of the Joans, she opens the play and directly addresses the audience, immediately warming us to Littlewood’s spunky character. Although, we quickly learn how demanding she can be as she intervenes with scenes, requiring them to play out again.
Nevertheless, as Miss Littlewood introduces more Joans, this main Joan is sometimes lost and feels extraneous on the side. But moments where Burt interacts with Israel are quietly heartbreaking. Because of her self-awareness, she’s only too cognisant that she will outlive her partner in all things.
The Key Moments in an Extraordinary Life
The story spans a teenage and idealistic Joan all the way to an isolated, older Littlewood, who leaves the theatre world. Here, the pacing of Miss Littlewood perhaps merits reconsideration.
The first act rushes past more natural pauses and races through the various events in Joan’s life. This leaves the second half feeling woefully short, eschewing action for emotion and reflection.
On one hand, this gives a poignant end to Miss Littlewood as Joan grapples with the death of her beloved Gerry.
A particularly lovely recounting of their first night together to song in the first act accentuates her loss. The image of their shared bedroom transforms into Gerry’s sick bed with all the Joans surrounding him.
However, giving this such attention doesn’t fully allow us to appreciate the complexity of her character and some of her difficult decisions. Her marriage to fellow theatre member, Jimmie Miller (Greg Barnett), sees her abort their child.
Yet, Miss Littlewood avoids confronting the issue of backstreet abortions in addition to Joan’s later suicide attempt.
Similarly, Joan Littlewood continues to possess a fearsome reputation. The script only occasionally acknowledges this, particularly with unflinching firings of the various Joans for their successor.
Despite the upbeat nature of musicals, a fuller exploration of this remarkable woman’s life would have been more compelling and perhaps more feminist. We show men to be complicated anti-heroes so shouldn’t the same be applied to women?
Still, Erica Whyman’s skilful direction allows seamless transitions between Littlewood’s life to music and dance. What surely is a taxing performance, instead seems easy as she brings the best out of her cast.
Her actors brim with joy and enthusiasm in their roles, truly lighting up the stage and charming the audience.
Most importantly however, they throw themselves wholeheartedly in capturing Littlewood’s passion for new writing, anti-establishmentarianism and making theatre available to all. So much so, that we can’t stop from cheering her on.
Travelling Through the Decades
Designer Tom Piper helps us flow through the various stages of Joan’s exciting life.
He captures all the romance of Paris, which inspires young Joan while holidaying with her older art teacher. Later it provides a refuge from the older, weary and heartbroken Joan.
However, even the simplest staging decisions are key. As we support Littlewood’s determination scrape funding in spite of the frustrating requirements Arts Council, the repeated appearance of a single table has the whole audience steel themselves for the meeting.
Elsewhere, a changing display of the current year helps prepare us for changes in Littlewood’s turbulent life.
Costume supervisor, Sam Pickering, hints to changing decades for the character and in time.
Nevertheless, the heavy red drapes and gold provoke feelings of fondness for classic theatres. This contrasts Littlewood’s determination to showcase the horrible impact of war with her hit Oh, What a Lovely War! against a certain degree of nostalgia.
Music To Tap Your Toes To
Admittedly, the similarity of the music can make it difficult for one tune to stand out. Nonetheless, the orchestra plays these songs beautifully, sprinkling a certain magic to the production.
The witty lyrics compliment an equally witty script and Emily Johnstone appears more comfortable in the role of a young Barbara Windsor to cheekily deliver one of the best songs, ‘A Little Bit of Business’.
Though, of course, ‘Paris is a Woman’ receives a magnificent rendition from Ayeh.
Regardless, all the cast excel in hugely impressive dance routines. Impeccably synchronised, they’re creative and quirky without even detracting from the story.
Final Notes
The fun of this production of Miss Littlewood does excellently in engaging another generation to discover her work and influence.
Admittedly, certain references to Proust, rubbishing of RADA and the Art Council and a C-bomb feel catered to the theatre world rather than the general public.
But even if it sometimes feels a little one-note in glossing over Littlewood’s darker moments, the production is upbeat and engaging.
It goes beyond celebrating one of the key figures in 20th century British theatre to create a portrait of a deeply human, deeply flawed woman. The likes of which we hope to see in theatre causing trouble again.
Miss Littlewood will run until 4 August in The Swan Theatre at The Royal Shakespeare Company.
