A new musical about French impressionist artist Claude Monet is the aural equivalent of painting by numbersRating
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When I first heard there was going to be a musical about the life of Claude Monet, I’ll admit I secretly hoped it might be the jukebox variety. Imagine it: ABBA’s “Monet, Monet, Monet”, Pink Floyd’s “Monet”, even Randy Newman’s “It’s Monet That Matters.” When it turned out A Mirrored Monet wasn’t that kind of show, I was a little disappointed. Now that I’ve seen it, I rather wish it had been full of hits.
The show frames its story around an elderly Monet, 76 and paralysed by artist’s block, looking back on his life. We rewind to his meeting with Camille Doncieux: muse, mistress, eventual wife and mother of his children. Along the way, we watch the young Monet battling the art establishment while helping spark a revolution that would become Impressionism alongside the likes of Renoir, Manet and Bazille. Everyone is trying to survive as a penniless artist, too.
In practice, though, it’s a lot more explanation than drama. The elder Monet narrates the show with near-constant exposition, sometimes appearing alongside his younger self as the story hops episodically from Paris to Le Havre to London via the Salon des Beaux-Arts. Scenes arrive, scenes depart, and just when something interesting threatens to develop, we’re whisked off somewhere else.
The problems are myriad. The songs blur together with similar tone and tempo, often belted directly out to the audience rather than sung to another character. The lyrics rhyme diligently but rarely sparkle, leaning hard on cliché. Combine that with a book that’s frequently muddled, and you get theatre that is slow, occasionally baffling and rarely involving.
There are head-scratchers aplenty. Why does the elder Monet tell his daughter by his second wife that her mother nursed Camille through illness when Camille actually dies suddenly in his arms? Why, while supposedly destitute in London, does Camille complain about the fish and chips they can’t afford to eat? So many questions, not nearly enough answers.
Part of the issue may be that Carmel Owen has written everything: music, lyrics and book. Even Stephen Sondheim, hardly short of theatrical genius, usually had a collaborator on book duties to keep the storytelling sharp.
Performance-wise, the cast do solid work. The standout is Jeff Shankley as the elder Monet, on stage almost throughout and even popping up as a couple of other characters for good measure. Dean John-Wilson and Brooke Bazarian, as the younger Monet and Camille, have limited chemistry but gamely wrestle with the material they’re given. Also, for some reason, whilst everyone speaks with English accents, they pronounce Paris as Paree and other French names with thick French accents. There’s even a French coach listed in the programme – all very odd.
What really saves the evening is Matt Powell’s superb video design, which transforms the blank canvases at the back of the stage into shifting landscapes, paintings and at its best, bursts of Monet’s luminous artwork. There’s also fine support from the eight-piece chamber orchestra led by Michael Webborn, and Libby Todd’s handsome period costumes are perfect.
Still, if you’re after a musical about a great French painter, you might be better off waiting for the revival of Sunday in the Park with George, Sondheim’s masterful show about Georges Seurat. Compared to that, A Mirrored Monet looks less like a masterpiece and more like an unfinished sketch.
Composer, Book & Lyrics: Carmel Owen
Director: Christian Durham
Musical Director: Michael Webborn
Designer: Libby Todd
Lighting Designer: Jodie Underwood
Sound Designer: Andy Johnson
Video Designer: Matt Powell
A Mirrored Monet plays at The Charing Cross Theatre until Saturday May 9
