Sweet Charity

by Neil Simon (book) Cy Coleman (music) and Dorthy Fields (music)

seen at the Donmar Warehouse on 1 May 2019

This 1960s musical is revived by Josie Rourke as her last production as Artistic Director of the Donmar, with Anne-Marie Duff as Charity Hope Valentine and Arthur Darvill as Oscar, a doazen supporting actors in multiple parts, and a special appearance (in this performance) by Le Gateau Chocolat as Daddy Brubeck - different guest artists take this part during the run. Robert Jones designed the set, and Wayne McGregor the choreography.

Sweet Charity is based on a Fellini film in which the protagonist is constantly let down by the men in her life, dashing her hopes to gain some stability and domestic respectability. In this americanised version, Charity is a 'taxi dancer' in a nightclub where men can pay for a dance partner (with doubtless less respectable possibilities in mind); the girls put up with the job but it's not a good place to be. We first see Charity, a boundless optimist, being robbed by a cad of a boyfriend and dumped in a lake in Central Park - a clever piece of stagecraft involving a huge drum full of plastic balls - and returning to the nightclub almost unabashed by the downturn in her fortunes. An evening with a film star goes nowhere, then she meets Oscar, a shy young man who could be the answer to her dreams. If only.

Anne-Marie Duff gives an exceptionally vibrant performance as Charity, an extremely demanding role requiring physical and vocal stamina which she provides in spades. The whole piece would fail without her energy and her capacity to portray an optimistic but hopelessly naive character with such conviction. Arthur Darvill provides a wonderful foil as the hyper-nervous Oscar, respectable and apparently eager to share his life with his undeniably attractive woman. His fateful qualms, nowadays looking decidedly hypocritical (not to say misogynistic) look all too plausible in the terms of the play, again a tribute to his performance.

The supporting cast, in a dazzling set of silver walls and fittings (Warhol-like - perhaps not quite appropriate to the fizzing energy of the characters, but suitable in the stead of any realism) play the set-piece numbers with a mixture of verve and world-weariness which reminds us that good-time girls are probably not having a good time. The famous number 'Big Spender' comes across with quite disturbing undertones in McGregor's choreography, while the bizarre 'Rhythm of Life' sequence is an unabashed riot with the outrageous drag act of Le Gateau Chocolat in charge.