Something Something Lazarus at the King’s Head Theatre

John Myatt’s first foray into the realm of stage musicals wrestles with a darkly comic, potential-laden story; but confusing exposition and a lack of standout songs leaves audiences dying a slow death rather than resurrecting a love of fringe musical theatre.

Set in a rundown cabaret bar, Something Something Lazarus introduces us to a world of bohemian artists scraping by for the sake of their passion: Vee (Valerie Cutko), an aging diva, rehearses with Della (Daisy Amphlett), a younger but equally embittered actress as they prepare for their nightly performance. Meanwhile Daniel (Ralph Bogard), the venue’s broken-hearted proprietor, is using young barman Jay (Daniel Cech-Lucas) as a distraction from his lost love.  Between them, they hold the failing venue together through a potent mixture of co-dependence, gin and an unerring commitment to their trade.

This uneasy and unsustainable venture quickly descends into a brutal exploration of each character’s true outlook on their situation when Daniel receives a gift from his “one and only love”. Between Jay’s metaphorical angel and a metaphorical ball and chain in Vee/Della, Daniel is quickly driven to a violent baring of his feelings.

Throughout this exploration (spanning a single 80-minute performance), the cast are given ample opportunity to showcase their musical talent, with Amphlett’s multi-instrumental ability and Cech-Lucas’ impressive vocals both shining. However, the numbers themselves lack any sort of punch, instead relying on tawdry innuendo to garner chuckles from the audience.

Similarly, although the story itself is a compelling if not entirely original mix of themes (love, co-dependence and an artists’ fear of falling into obscurity, to name a handful), Myatt fails to communicate these effectively. Instead, he relies on a whirlwind of exposition from one-dimensional characters that is jumbled and hard to pick apart, rather than a compelling portrayal of humans that are doing their best to get by,

Although there are some standout lines and moments here, such as an extended fourth-wall-breaking journey into Jay’s mind, Wyatt’s musical debut unfortunately comes across less as dark introspection (he based the story partly on a previous breakup) and more as a critically unpolished piece of fringe theatre.

Thomas Davidson

Something Something Lazarus is on at the King’s Head Theatre from 8^th March until 2^nd April 2016, for further information or to book visit here.

Watch Broken Cabaret’s Kickstarter video for Something Something Lazarus here: