'After The Turn': A Sizzling New Musical Featuring The Songs of Tim Prottey-Jones, at The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton

Showing until 25th February, 2012

Starring: Liam Doyle, Tori Allen-Martin, Greg Oliver, Stephen Rolley, Ashleigh Gray and Stevie Webb. Sarah Earnshaw will appear in the role of Amanda (currently Ashleigh Gray) in the last week.

(Review by Fiona Lister)

Last Friday’s cold snap didn’t prevent theatregoers from journeying over to the Courtyard Theatre for opening night of sizzling British rock/pop musical ‘After The Turn.’ Interval Productions is raising the professional standard for innovative musical theatre. After The Turn is a leap away from jukebox musicals; the electrifying rock score is brand new and the story is bold, sexy, contemporary and edgy. Everyone's talking about it.

The show features powerful, passionate rock ballads by the extraordinarily talented Birmingham-based composer Tim Prottey-Jones. The songs are taken from Tim’s independently produced albums ‘More with every line’ and ‘Surrounded by the Sounds’. Additional songs were written for this production.

‘After The Turn’ is based on the original book by Robert Gould. The show’s Director, Sarah Henley has re-written the story for a London audience, crafting the sensitive script with each actor in mind. There are some very intense themes of love, loss, tragedy and guilt and Sarah has added drama to these. Sarah is a Co-founder and Director of ComComedy Ltd http://www.sarahhenley.co.uk/.

Tom Curran (Interval Production’s MD) has successfully drawn out the powerful rock sound, lyrics and ballads with a tremendous on stage band and incredible backing vocalists. The entire team are quite simply rocking the roof off the Courtyard Theatre! Last night, theatre critic, Mark Shenton, dubbed ‘After The Turn’ as “The British RENT”, adding on Twitter, “As yet @AfterTheTurn is still in rapid evolution, developed in just the last 3 months; but having got this far so fast, it will fly high.” Stephen Fry describes After The Turn as “stunning”. This is exciting, inspirational musical theatre and Tim Prottey-Jones captures the spirit of his generation.

The idea for staging After The Turn developed from a Facebook conversation between Tim Prottey-Jones and the show’s bright entrepreneurial Artistic Director, Tori Allen-Martin, who stars in the role of rock vamp, Lauren. The show is produced by Sarah Page for Interval Productions and as mentioned before, is directed by Sarah Henley. This dynamic, punchy musical was developed in such as short space of time and brings together a stellar cast, uniting Tori Allen-Martin with Liam Doyle, Greg Oliver, Stephen Rolley, Ashleigh Gray and Stevie Webb.

After The Turn is a rough diamond, but that’s the charm of this production which was put together in record time. With more funding, this show could sky rocket. After The Turn has raised it’s own money through kind donations and through WeFund, the crowd-sourcing website. The success of this show lies in the quality of the songs, the script and the passion and skill of the cast and creative team.

Sarah Henley and Timothy O’Hara (After The Turn’s Co-Director) have done a magnificent job of borrowing props and putting together a set to give the impression of being at a gig. It’s a production that can be staged anywhere but the intimate setting of the Courtyard Theatre works well. Barriers are used as doors and the rest of the set consists of a sofa and bedroom. The cast mimes in certain places and uses the aisles in the auditorium for entrances and exits, making the audience feel part of the story.

The plot revolves around central character, Michael Brookman (Liam Doyle), who at the age of seventeen was the lead singer of a band called ‘Lost Boy’. Just when he and the band are headed for stardom, his mother Amanda (Ashleigh Gray) is killed by a hit and run driver. Amanda has raised Michael by herself and was fiercely protective over him. Ashleigh Gray gives a grand performance as a young mother despairing over Michael’s relationship with his girlfriend, Lauren. Amanda views Lauren as a femme fatale and competition for her son’s affections. Essentially, possessive Amanda seems threatened by Lauren and develops an obsession over the situation, driving herself to the brink of madness; one moment Amanda is capable of tenderness and in the next scene she rages at her poor son. Ashleigh Gray sings two of the most exquisite songs in the show ‘I Will Be There’ and ‘Mother/Mikey’. Ms Gray’s voice is mesmeric and despite playing a role suited for someone much older, she is utterly convincing.

Michael is devastated and racked with pain and guilt over his mother’s loss, especially since they’d rowed shortly before her tragic death. The row was over his girlfriend Lauren (Tori Allen-Martin). The story begins three years after Amanda’s death. We see Michael as a lonely hermit who can no longer speak. He won’t leave the confines of his bedroom and is locked away in his own mind, never seeing friends or Lauren, who is now in a relationship with his old best friend Wolf (Greg Oliver). The role of older mute Michael is played by Liam Doyle who gives a heartwarming performance as a traumatised young man. He sits in his bedroom in front of a laptop staring into a gloomy, empty room. Liam does emerge from his shell in Act Two, but I’m not going to say what happens. You’ll need to go along and find out.

Michael’s Uncle Will, a city spiv (Stevie Webb) is left in charge of the troubled young man whose situation drives him to a near breakdown. Out of desperation, he decides to contact Lauren for help. Listen out for his dramatic song 'I’m Through' at the beginning of Act One. Like Ashleigh Gray, Stevie Webb portrays a much older character, but nonetheless has you believing in Uncle Will’s plight. Webb's role differs from the other characters in his brilliantly funny comic interpretation of Will as a sloan - the type who is likely to order everything from exclusive King's Road designer stores. This breaks up the intensity of the main drama.

Lauren’s boyfriend Wolf, who works for a major record label, strongly encourages her to see if she can coax Michael out of his mute state; Wolf is sneaky and is looking to sign a money-spinning deal with Michael. Lauren agrees to help, but the cost is higher than she anticipates. I won’t spoil the rest of the story, but by the second half you will be totally immersed in their world.

Tori Allen-Martin is well cast as the smouldering sex siren Lauren, whose soulful voice is perfect for the Prottey-Jones rock ballads. Right from the Prologue in Act One, she lives and breathes her role as a loved up rock chick at home with impish boyfriend Wolf (Greg Oliver). Ms Allen-Martin leads the audience into her character’s increasingly secretive, confused thoughts, demonstrating tremendous talent as both an actress and as a musical theatre performer. She gives a heartfelt performance, especially with her rendition of the title song.

Tori Allen-Martin set up Interval Productions in 2009, an organisation that gives graduates a chance to perform with established professional actors. Two of her co-stars, Greg Oliver (role of boyfriend Wolf) and Stephen Rolley (role of Teenage Michael) are both students at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre arts. They are promising young stars. Greg Oliver, at such a young age, gives a polished performance. The on-stage chemistry between him and Tori Allen-Martin creates an instantly believable dynamic that leads into the unfolding story. ‘Everything I want it to be’ is a delightfully memorable song.

Stephen Rolley is perfectly cast as the young lovestruck teenager, Michael. The angelic Stephen has a lynchpin role, re-enacting scenes leading up to his mother’s fatal accident. He is older Michael’s mouthpiece and stands over him like a shadow in his bedroom relaying mute Michael’s thoughts in songs. Stephen Rolley gives a spellbinding performance in the most haunting, memorable love ballad I’ve heard in years, ‘My Heart Beats In My Song’ (I’m listening to this track now on the ‘After The Turn’ CD). Rolley sweeps audiences away on a wave of shared emotion. I spied my oldest friend and companion, a magazine editor and ex city boy, shedding tears and losing a contact lens. We were dumbstruck by this gifted young musical performer, who explained after the show how much he loves working with the cast and how much he's developed through working with top professionals.

Stephen Rolley and Greg Oliver are names to remember. Look out for these young musical performers. Thanks to Interval Productions, they have been given a chance to shine.

After The Turn has exploded onto the stage. I highly recommend seeing this thrilling new production, which already has a cult following. Don't miss it! http://www.aftertheturn.com/ CLICK HERE to order copies of Tim's 'After The Turn' CD from Dress Circle.

Tickets
Performances start at 7:30 p.m. There are no performances on Mondays.
Tickets are priced at £15 or £10 (Concessions) and can be purchased through the Courtyard Theatre's website: http://www.thecourtyard.org.uk/whatson/237/after-the-turn

Box Office: For Ticket Reservations (Ticket Web) Tel: 0844 477 1000 0844 477 1000 

Tim Prottey-Jones plus Guests will be appearing at the Courtyard Theatre
on 26th February 2012 - 7.30pm
Featuring the EnsemBelles