Review: One For Sorrow, Royal Court

Sadly not the Steps musical of my dreams, One For Sorrow nevertheless left me a bit disappointed at the Royal Court

You will do anything, in the end, to keep the people you love safe”

Finally, the Steps musical we’ve all been waiting for, and at no less august an institution as the Royal Court…

Sadly though, Cordelia Lynn’s One For Sorrow is a cruel attempt to lure Steps fans into theatres, leaving their hopes dashed. It’s no less than a tragedy.

All joking aside (although one should never joke about the prospect of a Steps musical), it’s a perfectly fine play, but a little perfunctory. One which doesn’t quite live up to Lynn’s debut, the excellent Lela & Co as it pricks at the middle classes’ bubble of liberal self-satisfaction as if a thousand plays haven’t tried that already – it’s as good an idea as dreads on a white person.

 

James MacDonald’s production is well-cast and well-acted but needs some serious editing (or was it just the heat that made me want it all to be over quicker?). I  kinda want my plays about notions of domestic terrorism and glib liberalism to be pushing the envelope just a bit more though.

Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes (with interval)
Photo: Johan Persson
One For Sorrow is booking at the Royal Court Upstairs until 11th August

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