EdFringe Review: Brodie and Co.

Reader, I was not fortunate enough to catch composer John Moore and Shrewsbury School’s Fringe First-winning Jekyll, which has gone on to find new life in regional theatres since 1995, not their extremely well-reviewed 2022 showing, Gatsby. Thus, I was keen to see this over-delivering scholastic outfit in action, and thus my feet walked into Brodie & Co. on its opening performance at Paradise in St. Augustines.

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The first thing to say is just how impressive the expansive teenage cast is. Brimming with confidence and gorgeously costumed and choreographed, they aren’t shy at coming forward. The titular anti-hero is played with adequate bravado by Dominic Turner. However, it falls to Freya Collinge to anchor the show as his sometime mistress, Jeannie Watt. Reimagined as a refugee from London dependent on prostitution to earn a crust, she narrates the story of the polite cabinet-maker with a sideline in larceny.

Musically speaking, the show falls somewhere between Oliver!, Sweeney Todd, and Horrible Histories, though defaulting to a swinging, jazzy aesthetic throughout. There’s not an enormous amount of variation, which does become tiring on the ears, but thanks to a better-than-average school band, they are carried off in style. However, the song-jammed score does have consequences in terms of storytelling, taking up too much time without pushing the narrative along enough. However, there’s no musical in which every number needs to be a showstopper; if you’re going to do an almost sung-through musical, a few need to be suborned for that purpose.

Musical Style and Narrative Flow

There’s enough to get the general gist of the gambling dens of iniquity that Brodie and Jeannie tend to, and the big song and dance numbers set a lively tone. The politer society that Brodie circulates amongst during daylight hours is minimally presented by comparison. Brodie, apparently the inspiration for Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde, mostly shows his reckless, rather odious tendencies, and the few attempts to show a likeable side are somewhat underpowered. The gambit that seals his fate is so nefariously conceived; he ultimately deserves a grim fate the writers are oddly unwilling to provide him.

That doesn’t mean a few tunes don’t stand out. For me, the irregularly reprised ‘And then you do it again’, talking of blurred lines and the lure of loose ethics, is touched with sophistication, whilst the duet ‘A Friend is too precious to lose’, sung by Brodie and best-mate-in-crime, George Smith (Reggie Bell) might be a bit Disney-esque for two doomed chums, but it slaps a little all the same. Otherwise, despite the professionalism of cast and band, the relentless need for almost every song to be applause-worthy means they become somewhat indistinguishable.

It’s a pity, because the considerable virtues of the young cast, young band, and occasional musical bright spot suggest a better musical one good dramaturg away from finding a stage. For now, however, Director Helen Brown doesn’t leave space for any character other than Jeannie to breathe, whilst most others are reduced to stereotypes. Plot-wise, liberties with Brodie’s actual history sacrifice the chance to tell a more nuanced tale. Instead, the show swings into a weirdly breezy final number about hoping for a brighter future for the people.

I came away with a feeling that score and script had been written in isolation or with communication via cans connected by string. The result is, again, a show with many virtues, just without the dots properly connected. Thus, bravo to the performers, and back to the storyboard for the creative team.

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