Trigger warning - this show and review mentions suicide, depression and mental illness.
Little Piece of You is an atypical musical in concert, which tells the story of depression and how it manifests in this one family through several generations. While this musical has a lot of flash - live band and orchestral accompaniment, full set and backup singers - it lacks any sort of heart. Making this sadly a very long 2 hour show, amid other great shows on the West End.
When you first learn more about the conflict between mother Shannon (Mica Paris), daughter Britt (Dujonna Gift) and father Ethan (David Bedella), you can’t help but draw some comparisons to Next to Normal. But unlike Next to Normal, this musical promises to be atypical in its use of music as more of a concert style. However, this show would have been better if it had just been a concert in the end, as the contrast between the music and the plot felt so large, that at times the music was jarring. It felt like two different things were happening at the same time - pop music concert and a very one-note play. The music and the storyline did not inform or support each other, which is ultimately the main reason for saying this should have just been a concert. Because trying to be too many things at once means none of this is done well.
Musically, the show has songs written by Kjersti Long and Jeremy Long. Long stars as a pop star in the show, known as Sidney Hill. The conflict starts when, Britt (who is obsessed with Sidney Hill) stops going to school when she finds out Sidney has committed suicide. Her mom Shannon is also struggling to keep her head above her latest bout of depression, and lies to her husband that she’s working on a job he got her - when in fact she stays at home and can’t get much farther than the bedroom and living room. The two meet in the attic where Britt is painting and avoiding the real world, and they strike up a deal - they won’t tell on each other about their secrets as long as they get to paint together. Only when Shannon decides to put a stop to this agreement - because she finally realises her daughter needs to go back to school - Britt tries to rebel and steals her mum’s medication.
Act two opens with us going back in time to the same house, but in 1993. Now the mum (Shannon) is the daughter and she is struggling with her mum Jen. We see them struggle, in a similar fashion to the first mother and daughter pairing. And then we go back to 1973, to see this family further back. There we see Britt’s great grandmother struggling with a separation and so she commits suicide. We go back to 2023 in time to see Britt and Shannon start to make up and have, for the first time, a very frank conversation about depression, mental illness and suicide. And the show is done.
Now imagine all of this set to pop music, which often has lyrics not directly related to the plot or characters. This is why the whole production feels jarring at times, because by the time you find yourself invested in the plot of the play and the characters, you are pulled out trying to re-contextualise with the music. And back and forth it goes.
The music itself is not bad and can be enjoyable as pop music. But this show feels like the music was the priority and then a thinly veiled plot was formed around it. Perhaps that’s why the play itself is quite trite and drawn out. The characters are poorly written, with dialogue often very cliched and long. Maybe it was opening night nerves, but cues were missed and conversations went on for longer than they needed to. Watching this show, I was thinking about the editing process and why more edits were not made before curtain. The show could have done with some tidying and perhaps a different structure. It was confusing that for the entire first act we’re in 2023 following the relationship between Britt and her mum, and then all of act two is spent time traveling back.
Ultimately, the end message is unclear and at worse reductive. We learn that this family has a history across 3 generations of mental illness. But nothing is nuanced or discussed in enough detail, and so we’re left thinking - is the message that mental illness can be hereditary? And if so, is that really the picture we need to be painting right now? Mental health and mental illness are often highly intimate and individual experiences, and this production does not show it in this way.
Aside from the various plot holes in the show - how can a young person under the age of 18, in America, not go to school without parents being notified? How can this young person avoid therapy sessions and parents are not notified? - the set itself was quite clunky, with so many ensemble/dancers that were often distracting at times.
While I do appreciate it was also opening night, there seemed to be sound level issues throughout the show. For the entire production, Long was much louder than everyone else. This meant that when any songs were sung between her and the other cast members, nothing else could be heard but Long. And often the band was too loud, drowning almost everyone out anyways.
I do want to give credit where credit is due, and that is to say that vocally, everyone was superb. Both Paris and Gift sang with such heartfelt depth, and Long sang with the right energy for someone leading the whole show musically. Additionally, while Bedella didn’t sing, he brought a much needed warmth and authenticity to the show.
Overall, while this show has lofty ambitions, it definitely needs more work before another run. I’d approach it more as a work-in-progress, which would make this a lot more palatable. Or otherwise a typical concert.
⭐️⭐️ (2*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by Roger Alarcon
Comments