A caper-filled and pun-fuelled tale of a family scrap about which Mendelssohn sibling should take top honours in the classical music world Rating
Good
Music is Fanny Mendelssohn’s world, but she can neither perform nor take credit for her work because she’s a woman in 19th-century Germany, and lives in the shadow of her famous brother: the world-renowned classical music composer Felix Mendelssohn. She is creative, witty, sharp, and beautiful but her mother is on a mission to silence her music and marry her off. When Fanny learns that Queen Victoria’s favourite piece of classical music is one of hers, not her brother’s, she sets out on a caper-filled and pun-fuelled journey to reach London to perform a specially written new piece at the Palace.
The show starts strongly with Fanny appearing on a dark stage, her face illuminated with passion and stage lighting, teasing out the perfect performance from an imaginary orchestra, conducting solo and in secret. It’s a great physical metaphor for her personal struggle. The first act revolves around her relationship with her family and her love interest Wilhelm, played by Riad Richie; it’s funny and sweet. The second act spirals off into silliness and surrealism as the pair set off on their quest to win Fanny the acclaim she desires.
There’s a very strong cast who are energetic and engaging. Charlie Russell as Fanny is fantastic – vibrant and passionate. Her dead-pan talentless brother Paul, played by Jeremy Lloyd, should also get a mention; many of the laughs are due to him. And Kim Ismay, in an array of roles including Fanny’s mother Lea, a Brummy barmaid and a very entertaining Queen Victoria, lifts many scenes she is in.
The staging is deftly done. There are a challenging number of scene changes, shifting from the Mendelssohn’s front room, a pub, the docks, a cargo ship, a train, a race between two carriages and ultimately the palace. The production team takes them in their stride – not easy when you must work around a baby grand piano which remains centre stage throughout.
This is a really fun piece of theatre, well-acted and put together and crammed – probably too tightly – with creative ideas. It’s obviously written by a lover of words and music, but it’s a long play and could do with a bit less of both. There’s a whole section at the beginning of the second act of audience participation where Fanny plays the audience like an orchestra which adds little to the storyline. Wilhelm’s puns are entertaining to start but grating by the end. And there seemed no earthly reason why a dockhand in Hamburg should speak in rhyming couplets. If it’s meant to be funny, it falls flat.
This is a play with huge potential. The Mendelssohn family rivalry, rooted in fact, is a really good premise; the wasted potential of 19th century women is a great way to explore the failure of society to support women then and now. The show looks at living in the shadow of a successful sibling, and the difficulty of balancing a family with the desire to create. The character of Fanny is really engaging and there are moments of real humour (sometimes a bit bawdy but funny for it, like the Prince Albert joke) and emotion, but the heart of the story is hidden by overwriting and extended slapstick. And for a play which is so energetic and lively, the final moments – though important to round off the story – fell a little flat.
Written by Calum Finlay
Directed by Katie-Ann McDonough
Creative Associate: Charlie Russell
Produced by RJG Productions
Associate Producer: The Watermill Theatre
Fanny plays at the Kings Head Theatre until Saturday 15 November.
