THE COLOR PURPLE
Birmingham Hippodrome, Tuesday 16th July, 2019
Alice Walker’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel of 1982 was brought to the silver screen three years later by Steven Spielberg. Now it arrives on the Birmingham Hippodrome stage in a brand new production of the Tony award-winning musical, with book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. It’s a landmark production: the first co-production between the Hippodrome and Leicester’s Curve theatre and, for the first time out, it sets the bar impossibly high.
The ticket gives a heads-up that the show ‘contains themes of Rape, Abuse, Incest, Overt Racism and Sexism’ and you wonder how depressed you’re going to be by the curtain call. It is surprising how many laughs there are in it! Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, the story tells of the terrible tribulations of Celie (T’Shan Williams) whose wicked stepfather impregnates her twice and takes her newborns away. Celie is palmed off to abusive widower ‘Mister’ (Ako Mitchell) to serve as wife, mother to his kids, and general dogsbody – little better than a slave, in effect. Adding to the pain is forced separation from beloved sister Nettie (Danielle Fiamanya) and that’s just the start of Celie’s troubles…
The entire cast excels. The score is gospel- soul- and jazz-infused, punctuated by some show-stopping numbers. T’Shan Williams is astonishing, bringing the house down with her solos, without being overly melodramatic in her dramatic scenes. Her Celie has dignity to make the size of her heart and the indomitability of her spirit. There are some crowd-pleasing moments of defiance that elicit electrified responses from the audience. Danielle Fiamanya is warm and passionate as Nettie, and there’s a performance that threatens to steal the show from Karen Mavundukure as the ferocious but hilarious Sofia. Joanna Francis brings glamour and a touch of the Blues as itinerant singer Shug Avery, and there is humour courtesy of Simon-Anthony Roden’s henpecked Harpo, the perfect contrast to the domineering, bullying male figures of Mister and Pa. Perola Congo adds to the fun as would-be singer Squeak.
Delroy Brown is perfectly monstrous as the tyrannical stepfather, while Ako Mitchell’s Mister goes through a transformation that demonstrates that old attitudes and behaviours are not written in stone. There is hope and the possibility of redemption.
Alex Lowde’s walled set with its pair of doll’s-house openings allows a swift and slick change of locations, with superbly realised costumes assisting the passage of the years. Director Tinuke Craig leavens the dark themes of Walker’s tale with humour, exuberance and vitality, making us care about these characters from the off. The emotional resolution jerks tears from every eye in the house. One of the most heart-warming and uplifting theatrical experiences I have had the pleasure to experience. By the time I leave the building, my hands are the colour red. Magnificent!
A rare moment of quiet for Karen Mavundukure as Sofia (Photo: Manuel Harlan)
Bum on a Seat 