The Fabulist 'Agrofontido' (played amiably by Dan Smith), takes exception to being called a magician, and is quick to correct anyone who does so as a fabulist is a top magician, not any old magician. Lying in the heart of this new musical, is the tension between science/rationality and magic/religious belief. Can these be reconciled by the end of the musical? Will love conquer all? These are the questions asked of the characters and the plot.
The Fabulist musical is set in Mussolini's Italy in 1929, where the Catholic church is all powerful and it has decided that magic is satanic and all magicians should be eliminated after being 'corrected'. Thus 'Agrofontido', real name Julian, puts himself and his sick-kick Pupuppini (played comically by Constantine Andronikou) in danger just by looking like a magician, let alone by actually practising magic.
Dan Smith is a member of the Magic Circle, so I would have loved there to have been more magic in the show, what there was, was good - especially the flaming book of spells - but I wanted more!
On the run, Julian and Pupuppini stumble across a female-led film studio. Sisters Clarice (played by Réka Jónás) and Cassandra (played by Lily De La Haye) are respectively the Screenwriter and Director. I rather liked these roles; these are strong, intelligent and well-educated women succeeding in a male-dominated world. Some of the best parts of the musical are delivered by this pair. They both have amazing voices which work well together, and they capture both sibling love and sibling spatting perfectly. There was a real chemistry between them, despite Cassandra following science and Clarice following her heart.
Clarice falls for Julian almost instantly, whilst there is a slow-burn between Cassandra and Pupuppini. Thrown into the mix is Petronius (played by James Paterson), the girls scientific father, and their uncle Cardinal Bandini (played with great comedic value by Stuart Pendred). The side character of the Cardinal steals the show at any point he is on stage. He reminded me of how the Mark Heaps character in Friday Night Dinner manages to do exactly the same any time he calls to the house.
Once the Cardinal has a whiff of a magician, the four young people play cat and mouse with him to avoid persecution. It all gets quite silly, but of course love eventually finds a way.
The small orchestra conducted by Samuel Woolfe are impressive.
This is a light-hearted yomp in the vein of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. If you enjoy those, you will love The Fabulist.
The Fabulist, with book and lyrics by James Farwell, is based on Paisiello’s opera The Imaginary Astrologer, Catherine the Great’s favourite, written specially for her.
Cast:
Dan Smith is Julian the Fabulist
James Paterson is Count Petronius
Stuart Pendred is Cardinal Bandini
Constantine Andronikou is Puppupini
Réka Jónás is Clarice
Lily De La Haye is Cassandraa
Jack Holton (Alternate Julian)
Marienella Phillips (Alternate: Cassandra and Clarice).
Creative team includes:
Director John Walton
Musical Director & Orchestrator Bobby Goulder
Movement Director Sean Kempton
Set and Costume Designer David Shields
Lighting Designer Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson
Sound Designer Andrew Johnson
Magic Consultant Harry De Cruz
Casting Director Debbie O’Brien
Producer Steven Levy for Charing Cross Theatre Productions
Where: Charing Cross Theatre
The Arches
Villiers Street,
London WC2N 6NL
Website: www.charingcrosstheatre.co.uk
Box office: 08444 930650
When: Now - 21 September 2024
Nearest tubes/trains: Embankment and Charing Cross
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