The 1991 film Thelma & Louise received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress nominations for both Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. The film took the usually male-dominated buddy-movie and road-movie genres and placed two women at its centre, while also raising provocative questions about cultural misogyny, victimhood and the struggle for personal freedom. The characters themselves were not especially complex, but their situation and search for authenticity resonated with audiences. The question, then, is whether a musical version of such a successful film can really add anything to the original. Unfortunately, although the performances are strong, the musical elements and staging do little to deepen the story. The thumping country score often overwhelms the drama, while the wordy narrative lyrics tend to explain rather than illuminate the action. The single set, centred on a barroom, also struggles to convey the expansive sense of space and new horizons that was such an important part of the film. At one point, sand is scattered across the stage to suggest the desert, but the device feels more awkward than evocative. Where the production does succeed is in its acting. Rachel Tucker gives Louise the authority and emotional depth required of the more worldly and decisive woman, while Amy Lennox captures Thelma's transformation from a naïve, easily-led housewife into someone increasingly confident and assertive. Both performances are powerful, with a chemistry that comes close to the stellar work of Sarandon and Davis in the film. The supporting cast is equally effective. Trevor Dion Nicholas brings warmth and sympathy to Detective Hal, the man who gradually comes to understand the women's predicament, while Alex Gibson-Giorgio gives Jimmy, Louise's boyfriend, an appealing mixture of affection and vulnerability. Joshua Dever makes Darryl, Thelma's husband, suitably exasperating and amusing in his cluelessness. The biggest problem, however, is that the stage version simply cannot reproduce the scale or visual freedom of the film, nor can it recreate its unforgettable ending with anything like the same impact. That moment is so deeply embedded in the cinematic imagination that any theatrical equivalent was always going to face an almost impossible challenge. Ultimately, this adaptation adds little to the original, with the songs and staging not really expanding on what the film already achieved so effectively. Although the strong central performances give the show considerable appeal, it is doubtful whether they alone can compensate for a production that never quite justifies its reimagining as a musical.
Rated: ★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo Helen Murray
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