Review: I Love You Michael, From Nadine, Old Red Lion Theatre

Based on true events, this latest play from award-winning writer and performer Megan Marszal tells the tale of one of France’s most daring prison escapes and what led the woman at the heart of it to such dazzling heights.

Flipping through time between the build-up to and execution of the escape in the 1980s and its aftermath in the 2000s, Marszal’s script handles a complicated chronology elegantly. In the former, a young Nadine (Ellie Baldwin) addresses the audience directly, detailing her life and her spiralling love affair with charismatic gangster Michael, a shadowy force behind the whole play yet never seen onstage. In the 2000s, a more mature Nadine (played now by Kate Harbour) relates her story to Cece (Marszal), a young woman who has ostensibly come to fix her boiler but who hides a more personal motive…

It’s a deft and intelligent setup that creates a strong core for the show, complemented by sharp direction from Charlotte Sheehan that brings out all the strengths of Marszal’s script. A warm and bucolic set design by Rhys Cannon brings life to the modern French setting, while light and sound by Cameron Pike give everything the grounding and emphasis it needs.

What grounds things less well is where the whole drama ends up. The play builds to a climax of the infamous prison escape itself, complete with blow-by-blow descriptions of actions on the day, but details are scant and expectations for what comes afterwards are subverted. Things feel prolonged as twists and another climax come in very short order, dialling up the melodrama before a sudden end. The last few minutes and all the revelations therein feel more like an appendix to where the show would have ended rather than anything organic or satisfying, and considering the whole play is just over an hour long, it may benefit from trimming and simplifying this section to hit that one-hour mark precisely.

Additionally there are small gripes, such as Nadine in the 2000s apparently being in hiding yet still using her old name, Nadine deducing far more about Cece’s motives than seems plausible as the story goes on, and the whole second half of the play featuring a noticeable slump in energy and pacing – some sections of exposition can go on too long, while other moments with a focus on character motivation or world-building are given too short shrift.

Ultimately, there’s great talent on display here, both behind and in front of the curtain, all working to create the foundation for a great show, but a little further development is needed on the pacing and structure of the script before the piece can wow as it should.

Written by Megan Marszal
Directed by Charlotte Sheehan
Set by Rhys Cannon
Visual Design by Yasmin Lucas
Lighting & Sound by Cameron Pike
Produced by MediumRare Productions

I Love You Michael, from Nadine has finished its run at The Old Red Lion..