COMEDY MUSICAL KEVIN (THE MUSICAL) Z ARTS

   

Many artistic works have been inspired by visits to foreign places, often creating an interesting scenario to a romantic encounter or perhaps a dramatic backdrop to a criminal manhunt. ‘Kevin (the musical)’ was primarily inspired by writer Will Sharland's two-month journey around the Northern regions of the U.S.A. but rather than America providing a backdrop to a story, the show was nothing short of a detailed, satirical examination of modern-day American society. The writer’s affection for American people certainly came through in both the characters and the writing but conclusions of the story were quite another matter.

   Rather than being viewed through a fly-on-the-wall approach, America was observed through the eyes of Kevin, a young English visitor staying with an America family. His experiences started with engaging with the various family members and expanded to include school, fast-food social culture and general aspects of daily life in the states such as meeting the same people each morning on the bus. The dramatic-style was akin to something by Amanda Whitington with each scene represented by a huge, photo backscreen and this worked well in compartmentalising American life. With a large cast of sixteen, the atmospheres of social situations such as a classroom or a diner were convincingly created.    

    The music was very much in the style of a modern, American show, many songs sung by a different cast for almost each line, with rousing rhythms that kept up a constant pace, backed by a lot of movement on stage. There was little music that could be described as memorable but as a musical experience, the show was fast-flowing, keeping the audience engaged and entertained. Elena Whiteley as Chase and Charlotte Naylor as Cindi stood out with some fine solos whilst Steffan Eldridge provided excellent comic support as Eugene. There were some touching characterisations as well, notably Kitti Horvath’s diner proprietor Betty and Myome Mortimer-Davies ‘s teacher, Mrs Sanders. And not forgetting a very funny impersonation of Donald Trump by Stian Jebson

   The impression given of America during the whole of Act One was of a sugar-coated life in which everyone seemed to be constantly convincing themselves that life was great or at the very least, in the process of becoming so with every new day gleefully greeted as the day that is going to be the day and the photo backscreens echoing this with images of neatly manicured lawns and pristine rooms (save a few rats in Betty’s diner). The American dream was constantly drummed in to everyone with Mrs. Sanders insisting that everything was possible if you just ‘did your best’.

   Suffice to say, everything got deconstructed in the second act with the backscreens showing a filthy squat with graffiti-covered walls a psychiatric hospital and a rubbish-strewn back street, as dark undercurrent came to the surface, including school shooting. A very funny scene was a pastiche of ‘West Side Story’, where the school bully Marty (played by Noah Wessel) and his gang ambush Kevin in an alleyway, where rather than beat him up, they present their dancing skills. This was a metaphor for one of the show’s underling themes that all Americans were living a state of make-believe, as if they were actually in a show rather than reality.

  The most curious device of ‘Kevin’ was McGuffin, memorably played by Kevin Jones, a sort of homeless version of Billy Connolly who kept appearing to Kevin giving warnings that all was not what it seemed. Keir Lundy gave a sterling performance as Kevin, showing from the outset, an unsettled feeling in his surroundings which progressively descended to the point of a virtual mental breakdown as the falseness of American life and attitudes impacted upon him.

Added this were understated racist attitudes exemplified in the difference between an ‘American’ and an ‘Amercaine!’ Ultimately, it came as no surprise to see that ‘Kevin’ did not put America in a very positive light but beneath that was a genuine feeling of warmth towards the American people who were essentially shown as victims of their own society and culture.

Reviewer: John Waterhouse

Reviewed: 7^th March 2025