The stage adaptation of the 2014 film Pride, based on the true story of a London gay and lesbian group that raised money for the south Wales village of Dulais during the 1984 Miners' Strike, has opened at the National Theatre. Directed by Matthew Warchus with a book and lyrics by Stephen Beresford and music by Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde, the musical is hugely charming and affecting, if imperfect.
Plot and Songs
After a hedonistic night near Bloomsbury's Gay's The Word bookshop, young activist Mark (Jhon Lumsden) has an epiphany: the same people who hate homosexuals also hate the miners, so they should stand together. He assembles a rag-tag group of four gays and one lesbian, Steph (Courtney Stapleton), and starts raising money for a valley village chosen at random. When they deliver the cash, there is a clash of cultures before shared values and humanity assert themselves.
The musical features superb songs that expand and illuminate the story, including I Miss Disco, sung by Samuel Barnett's flamboyant Jonathan; the stirring standard Bread and Roses; and the beautiful solo Ordinary sung by Sarah Pugh's Siân. You Might as Well Live, performed by Barnett's HIV-positive Jonathan, is a Busby Berkeley tap extravaganza with feather fans and a gold playsuit. The juxtaposition of the raucous Bloody Good Night Out with Light Perpetual, about the coming AIDS crisis, is bold and moving. However, there are a few duds like The Enemy Within and some songs that sound like place-holders.
Narrative and Performances
Narratively, the musical has a great middle but a weak beginning and end. The pre-show montage of photos (Richard Branson, pre-shaved Madonna) sets the scene, reminding us that the early 80s was a time of fingerless gloves, Rubik's Cubes, and gay-bashing. As the mining community and the London 'perverts' learn to respect each other, individuals grow, notably Lewis Corney's Bromley, who isn't sure he's entirely homosexual. His song I'm Into Guys includes the couplet: 'Yes I'm sure so save the sermon/I like cock and Ethel Merman.'
The musical ends on a diminuendo, with characters milling about the stage filling us in on what came after: the strike was smashed, AIDS laid waste to a generation, Siân became the first female MP for Swansea, and gays and lesbians eventually won equal rights in the UK. However, these wins feel hollow at a time when progressivism is under attack worldwide.
Warchus's production has a can-do, scratch-built 80s vibe with hand-painted protest banners, dungarees, and Doc Martens, and the band atop Bunny Christie's scaffolding set. Lumsden is a charismatic Mark, balanced by Matthew Durkan's earnest John. Barnett steals every scene, and Sarah Pugh is terrific as Siân, with comic support from Gillian Elisa as Gwen and Kirsty Malpass as Hefina. The platonic fascination between Gwen and Stapleton's Steph is one of the show's delights.
Commercial Prospects
Pride is mostly a feel-good hit with a lemony sting in its tail, and its initial run at the National Theatre has sold out. Produced by Warchus and Beresford's P&P Productions, the hope is for a longer commercial life. However, the reviewer doubts it would succeed in a big West End theatre in its current form, being too quirky and left field. Perhaps the musical theatre audience will take to this tale of gay pride like ducks to water. The show runs until September 12 at the National Theatre.
