Marguerite, Tabard Theatre

Chanson d'amour

Marguerite bombed within weeks of opening at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, four years ago. With humility in spades, its writers have reworked the book and revised the score and are debuting the result in a tiny pub theatre in Chiswick. If this is because they're still running scared, there's no need. By paring the Parisian narrative so it is solely about the wartime love affair between the 40-year-old chanteuse whore of a Nazi officer, and a Jewish pianist in his twenties, the piece comes alive.

Yvette Robinson as Marguerite is terrific. She imbues the role with a depth that is not present in the script, and immediately improves it. Her deterioration, after the point at which she sacrifices her love for Armand in order to save his life, is very effective and moving. Nadim Naaman as Armand is a blank page that fills only slowly. This too serves the script, enabling the suspension of disbelief that he loves this much older woman, and will risk arrest to stay near her. They're the thinking man's Davina McCall, and the thinking woman's Harry Styles.

Spamalot's Guy Unsworth has co-written the new book with Alain Boublil, and directs the highly professional cast of twelve on a stage that's about 20x14 feet. A seven piece band is tucked behind some fretwork. The set, made up of palettes and set out to serve as a stage, a club, a bedroom, and the bunker of the French Resistance, is simple but it works. The costumes feel too modern, however, and it's odd seeing an iconic Mulberry Bayswater bag being used as wartime luggage.

In conclusion: Marguerite has no pretensions. It's a love story. As such, it works. There is no big belter of a song, and the ballads tiptoe rather than swagger into view, but the music's smooth, the singing splendid, and it entertains.

References
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