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The best experience at a festival is going to see a show that is completely alien to your tastes, uses techniques you dislike, is told in a medium you hate and finding yourself falling in love with it.
‘Have a Nice Life’ is fantastic, as a musical, as a piece of theatre and as an experience. Every week Chris, Jean, Frank, Barbara and Jackie go to a group therapy session run by Patrick. It is here they vent their frustrations with their lives, their families, their jobs and (more often than not) each other. This show features one such session, only now they are joined by a new member, the seemingly happy Amy. Her presence leads each character to question the root of their frustrations and also shows that her life might not be as perfect as they first thought.
There are moments in the script that feel contrived, occasionally some of the characterisations are slightly over the top and the final resolution is slightly confused. This show is not perfect, but that’s alright, because no show is. Instead it is authentic, funny, innovative, inventive and heartbreakingly moving.
It follows a classic musical structure but setting it in one location makes it feel fresh and forces the writers to examine their characters more closely. A lot of musicals feature characters singing about how they feel and it can often feel intrusive. In this show how they feel is the whole point. Rather than interrupting the action each song moves this wittily written character drama forward at a cracking pace. The book seamlessly fits in so much that you don’t distinguish between what is sung and what isn’t.
Each character gets a chance to shine but thankfully the writers make it more surprising than merely going round the circle one by one. It is lovely to see how the characters interact and how they view each other’s problems. Clichés are also subverted as the characters, who seem more two dimensional to begin with, break your heart with their very realistic problems. Two songs are particularly affecting, revealing the hidden pain of Frank, who spends the first half of the play acting like the stereotypical jock and Amy, the woman with the seemingly perfect life. Both feel both emotionally raw and totally genuine.
This show is full to bursting with beautiful moments and the music, lyrics, book, acting and directing come together brilliantly to make this show a hilarious, touching and wonderfully enjoyable hour. I saw it performed to an audience of just twelve, yet there was not one person who didn’t come out raving. If there was any justice this show would never perform to anything less than full capacity in a much bigger venue. While it is here, you can at least make sure you see it, even if you don’t like musicals you may find yourself falling for it too. |
