Review: REDCLIFFE at Southwark Playhouse

Jordan Luke Gage is an extremely talented performer who has impressed in his leading roles (most notably as Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde where his impressive rock tenor belt was given full scope to impress). REDCLIFFE is his own composition (book, music and lyrics) for which he has undertaken background research about an actual case to form the basis of the piece. He has then worked-up the material while omitting or tweaking various key elements to ensure they fit more comfortably in his telling of a gay, romantically charged tragedy.

Gage casts himself in the younger role of William opposite Daniel Krikler as Richard and together, the pair exhibit a genuine furtive chemistry and appropriate sense of jeopardy to their interplay, which acknowledges the times in which the musical is set. In point of fact the age gap between the real men was considerably greater, with Richard Arnold possibly in his early 60s being the well respected landlord of The Lamb and Flag public house (rather than a naval officer) and therefore a direct competitor to the landlord of The Swan (John Baber played by Adrian Hansel) who claimed to have secretly observed William and Richard engaging in intimacy at a private room of his hostelry which including an assumed act of sodomy which would have contravened the Buggery Act 1533. For the show, Gage has presented a more romantic setting with the pair sheltering overnight at a beach cave during a stormy night and observed by Baber during his ancillary duties as a local nightwatchman.

While the changes imbue a less sordid and altogether more Wuthering Heights element to proceedings, the circumstances of the pair's discovery are largely moot. It is the hypocrisy and injustice which Gage aims to spotlight. But this is no mere didactic exercise in LGBTQ+ tub-thumping. The writer juxtaposes and supplements the fictionalised history lesson with depth, love and compassion exhibited by the mother and sister of the central character. When William is incarcerated on the unsubstantiated word of another, both women experience the shunning of society and yet rally to remind him of their love and support in his time of need.

Rebecca Lock fills the stage with her robust personality from the get-go, delivering a gamut of protective, concerned, playful and indignantly compassionate moments as William's mother. She is an absolute joy and a huge strength in the production. Similarly, Jess Douglas Welsh as William's sister Abi, shows a gentle and loving naivety in her acceptance of her beau's need to distance himself in the immediate aftermath of the scandal breaking. Proffering a basket of her needlework in a desperate attempt to raise funds from the cold-shouldering townsfolk, she aims to bribe the prison guard (Steven Serlin in two notable roles) to allow a short visitation. It is a beautiful and pathetically heartbreaking moment. The other notable woman whose moments command attention, is Melissa Jacques in dual roles of a caring family friend who has helped in times of need and the be-wigged presiding judge who delivers the damning verdicts.

Director Paul Foster has marshalled his troops with sufficient hubbub to convey the Redcliffe district of 18th Century Bristol, supported by Emma Woods' considered blocking and choreography. Above Andrew Exeter's rustic wooden plank set design, the assembled musicians deliver beautifully, resulting in a compelling and moving evening of which every contributor should feel justifiably proud.

REDCLIFFE continues at Southwark Playhouse until 4th July and plays 2 hours and 30 minutes including interval.