Theatre: Review – Fela! at Sadler’s Wells | Islington Tribune
Theatre: Review – Fela! at Sadler’s Wells
Image:
Published: 4 August, 2011
by DAMIAN O’LOUGHLIN
IN a week in which the term musical genius has littered front pages and features sections, the return of Fela! to Sadler’s Wells is a stunning evocation of the life of a man who truly embodied that phrase.
More radical than many of his contemporaries, living a life full of controversy and self-discovery, Fela Kuti was not only the creator of Afrobeat but an inspirational figure and political agitator.
In telling his story, all the indomitable exuberance of a man who took on the Nigerian government while entertaining 27 wives has been fully captured by the show’s creative team.
The brilliant Sahr Ngaujah as Fela is full of all the primal passion and magnetic charisma of the man he depicts, and his voice is on a par, too – although the plaudits for his horn playing have to go to the live band’s superb
tenor saxophonist who blasted out Fela’s sax solos while Ngaujah perfectly mimicked Kuti’s legendary showmanship.
The show replicates the feel of one of Kuti’s wild and sweaty performances – the last at his club, The Shrine in Lagos – thanks to an ultra-tight band, which Fela’s partner in musical crime, Tony Allen, would have been proud to lead, and impossibly energetic dancers.
Of course, it’s the endless groove of Afrobeat, fusing jazz, funk, Latin and African elements, that drives the show on, providing the background to Fela’s journey to political consciousness through the teachings of his mother and exposure to the American Black Power movement.
The second act sees these political itchings come to full fruition, most effectively during the raucous rendition of Zombie and a well-measured performance of International Thief-Thief, which accompanied a procession of placards bearing the names of various global corporations and organisations that took over the rape of Africa following the slow death of Colonialism – although the addition of News Corp seemed to be more for comic effect.
Unfortunately, despite the escalation of death and drama in Fela’s life during the time being depicted, the second half still seems to drag a little – although when it comes, the climax is stupendous, and along the way we are treated to some great set-pieces as well as a full display of the astonishing vocal range of Melanie Marshall as Fela’s mother, Funmilayo.
The standing ovation at the end of the show was inevitable, and will undoubtedly be repeated during the run of what will be one of the summer’s smash-hit shows.
via Theatre: Review – Fela! at Sadler’s Wells | Islington Tribune.