Nearly 10 years since its Julie Atherton-starring debut, London musical LIFT is vibrantly revived at Southwark Playhouse
“We’re all hiding from something”
Craig Adams and Ian Watson’s musical LIFT was first seen at the Soho Theatre in 2013, in a production that featured Cynthia Erivo but more significantly, an epically good Julie Atherton. This beautifully-designed (Andrew Exeter) revival at Southwark Playhouse has been refreshed by the writers and in director Dean Johnson’s hands here, feels like a cracking showcase for its talented cast.
The show is almost as much a song cycle as a fully-fledged musical, using the concept of the 54 seconds that a group of people spend in a lift at Covent Garden tube station to riff on the nature of contemporary city living. Although, led as we are by the figure of Luke Friend’s busker who imagines life stories for them all, we soon see that even if we’re not making eye contact with other, there’s often more than connects us than not. Continue reading “Review: LIFT, Southwark Playhouse”