⭐⭐And a half
Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen, a German noble later executed by the Nazis wrote about the White Rose:
“They died radiant in their courage and readiness for sacrifice and thereby attained the pinnacle of lives well lived. We will, all of us, someday must make a pilgrimage to their graves and stand before them in shame”
Photo by Marc Brenner
The White Rose was the name of a young German student peaceful resistance group from the university of Munich who secretly wrote and distributed leaflets across Germany in 1943. Encouraging people to take a stand and resist the evil dictatorship that they were living in ultimately, they were caught and executed by the Nazis. How people manage and live with constant propaganda when their country becomes one of the evilest dictatorships in human history is a voice that we don't often hear making their story important and inspiring.
There are brilliant performances by the whole cast with standouts from Collette Guitart (Sophie Scholl) and Tobias Turley (Hans Scholl) as brother and sister who are the main leaders of the group.
I found the Leaflets thrown to the audience that contain quotes from the actual leaflets quite emotional and inspiring.
This is an important true story about standing up for the right thing in almost impossible circumstances even at the ultimate cost and should be essential knowledge for everyone today, chiming as it does with the way our current political climate is leaning.
With a heavy heart, because of the many issues with the scripting, musicality, lyrics, direction and pacing it makes this version difficult to recommend. I don't believe that White Rose is the musical that this important story deserves.
The songs while very well sung are musically generic and mostly forgettable soft/pop rock following a pattern of starting quiet expressing inner conflict and then building up to a crescendo, the lyrics often seem jarring with little cohesiveness or depth to the overall story. There is no choreography, meaning that while individuals sing others stand motionless on stage. It made me think that maybe this would be better as a play.
Even though the essence of the story is good, the audience clearly understands this within a very short time The dialogue needs finessing, so a lot of time is spent trying to build up the call to action in a simplistic and repetitive manner with little nuance and lack of cohesion.
The premier of White Rose ran as a one act shorter musical in New York and has been extended to two acts with new songs and deeper character development for the Marylebone Theatre London performance. I think this may have unfortunately compounded some of the problems.
Cast:
Collette Guitart, Tobias Turley, Owen Arkrow, Danny Colligan, Charley Robbie, Millie Robins, Nathan Shaw, Thomas Sutcliffe, Danny Whelan, Mark Willshire, Ollie Wray.
Creatives: White Rose The Musical Book & Lyrics by Brian Belding
Music by Natalie Brice
Director Will Nunziata
Where: Marylebone Theatre, Rudolf Steiner House35 Park Road, London NW1 6XT
Box office: 02077237984 boxoffice@marylebonetheatre.com
When: Thursday 27 February - Sunday 13 April
Performances: Wednesday - Saturday at 7:30pmThursday & Saturday at 2:30pmSunday at 1pm and 5pm
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