The Last Five Years, Bombed Out Church, Liverpool, Review

The Last Five Years is a raw but cleverly creative expression of love in a non-ideal world, from the falling in to the falling apart. With its unique presentation of the intertwining of two people’s lives, staged within the breathtaking grounds of the Bombed Out Church, this show boasts character and charm.

Synopsis and Structure

The Last Five Years is a modern, one-act musical about two New Yorkers: Jamie (Tudor), a writer and Cathy (Noble), an actor. As the title suggests, the story of Jamie and Cathy’s exciting yet turbulent five-year relationship unfolds in both chronological and reverse order, alternating between the two, through both characters’ perspectives. Whilst initially this might sound like a confusing structure, it actually felt refreshingly simplistic with the only two characters portraying the one dramatic story. Cathy opened the story by telling its ending, whilst Jamie explained their story from the very beginning. The alternating between the two, jumping back and forth along their timeline, made for a truly intriguing production. The pair of creatives struggle with classic marital challenges centred around their work, battling jealousy, temptations and disappointments.

Analysis

The switching of time and perspective brought an exciting, edge-of-your-seat atmosphere. Opening on an emotion-filled number, the audience were instantly drawn into the whirlwind of these two hopeless hopefuls. You could not pull your gaze away from the two dynamic actors. Both gave equally shining performances against the backdrop of the dark night sky; two stars, quite literally! This musical has a strong rhythm. It is a fast-paced artwork that gently slows down in parts, but only to speed back up again in a blink! It’s a heartfelt expression of intimacy and uncensored honesty but wrapped within quick, sneeze-and-you’ll-miss-it humour, subtle irony and mesmeric playfulness.

Furthermore, Noble and Tudor both gave incredible vocal performances. Their voices seemed effortlessly stunning and filled the hollow of the bombed-out church with warmth. Married in real life, only making this production even more endearing, the two actors had electric chemistry, naturally. The characters only actually interacted in the same moment in time once, but the tension between them was always present. The duets were enthralling and the fact they often expressed opposing emotions from separate points in time but meshed perfectly was really clever. The delicate moments were captivating and the harsh moments were raw with passion.

The pianist and musical director (Alexander) was fantastic! The Last Five Years must be considered a three character play as the whole performance was carried by this visually enthusiastic musician. There were a couple of unaccompanied moments but besides those the play was essentially one continuous musical masterpiece. Personally, I wouldn’t usually choose to see a show that I know has a ‘sad ending’; however, as much as it has a very obvious unhappily ever after, somehow, I’m not quite sure how, I was not left unsatisfied… pensive, but more tickled and impressed with such a clever written work and outstanding performance.

Summary

Comparable to the musicals LaLa Land (similar piano-based musical expression) and Hamilton (fast-paced narrative to music), The Last Five Years captures and keeps you right there in the moment until the final word is spoken. This is a fantastically intelligent and witty work of art that if you get the chance to see, you must!