The Last Five Years: Southwark Playhouse

Are these the same 2 people who were in it before? I'm not familiar with either of them.

They are yes. If you saw the last Sunset Boulevard tour, Molly was Betty for that and she also went on a few times in Dove Cameron’s place in Light in the Piazza last year.

Outstanding production and team at Southwark have gone all out to ensure audience safety. Stellar production GO SEE

I'm afraid this didn't grab me - I love The Last Five Years but wasn't impressed by many aspects of this.

Molly Lynch is a beautiful singer but the choreography is far too fussy to allow her to really get into the character - she spends far too much time moving around for the sake of moving so her expressions and gestures don't have time to land.

Oli Higginson sounded as if he was trying too hard, and it showed by the end as he could barely sing the last song, and the show was only 90 minutes long. It was all too big and loud for me, not enough light and shade. Again, part of the problem for me was the staging - far too much movement in far too little space - the grand piano dominated the stage and didn't leave much room for anything else, which meant the constant distraction of jumping on and off and around the piano.

All of that put together meant that I didn't get much sense of a relationship coming together enough for it then to fall apart as dramatically as the story suggests. Nor did I get any real sense of why it did.

So all in all it left me rather cold, and indeed it didn't get half the laughs I've seen previous productions get, so perhaps I'm not the only one. It's a shame, because I was hugely looking forward to it.

Regardless though, it was still a joy to be back in a full theatre and to see peformers doing what they do best live on stage after so long. All the measures Southwark have put in place work perfectly, and the plexiglass isn't an issue or irritant in the slightest (also works handily as a mirror at times when the performers have their backs to you and are lit just right!).

More theatres should be trying this, as there is no reason why it can't be used to get full houses back now rather than in the very distant future!

I agree with david a great production and Southwark deserve awards for just getting on with it and making us feel so safe and welcome at the same time.

This was my last show before lockdown and so it was great to go back and revisit. Loved it. At the end it got a huge and well deserved standing ovation.

Great to see enthusiasm for seeing covers. I love that in the 3 times I saw the les mis concert (including cinema) I had 3 different pairings of Valjean and Javert. Fingers crossed for a no Ball no Boe next time.
Great for the standbys too, they have a chance for people to go to see them!!

Quite enjoyed this tonight having missed it first time around. The two leads were both good, although I'm a bit indifferent on the music. Perhaps it will grow on me?

I do thing they did a great job with making the venue Covid-19 secure. A separate entrance, the seats cleanly spaced out, drinks orders if you wanted them (probably too many judging by the number of toilet breaks people needed), screens up between seats.

The screens were a little annoying in that you watch the show through the screen a lot, but you also get reflections, but I understand that we need them like that at the moment. As a single theatregoer, I'm very glad I had an aisle seat as this is rather compact if you have a screen at either side of you. Most people kept their masks on, which was appreciated.

I don't think I loved the show enough to go back and see the same two leads again, but like others, I like Josh Barnett from his ArtsEd days, so if he does end up with another date advertised (an evening preferably due to work) I'd certainly try and catch him.

I have not seen this production- the whole actor musician thing doesn't appeal to me- however a much as I love Th Last 5 Years (and indeed most of Jason Robert Brown's work) I think that the problem with this show is that outside of the theatre community, it's just not that well known.

Because of the intimacy of the show, it's not a stage spectacular like Wicked, Les Mis, Phantom orThe Lion King, thus not necessarily a crowd puller.

And lyrically and structurally its brilliant. Depending on your mood and how you're feeling, one day the break down of the relationship can be blamed on Jamie. At other times, or days, it's all Cathy's fault.

Hopefully sales for this production will pick up.

I agree with this, I've never thought it was her fault per se. But I do find her incredibly annoying.

I think they're both to blame - she's clingy and whiny and he's a horndog! 🤣 it is a great musical though, I'm hoping to catch it on Rush soon.

First time catching time tonight and it was just wonderful. Glad I did a bit of reading up about it before I went in so I knew about the timelines being opposite so I was able to really get into it from the start. Brilliant performances from both actors and nice to see it pretty full as I know it’s not been selling well. It certainly should be as it’s such a beautifully written piece.