Review of Song of the Summer at The Picturedrome, Northampton

Song of the Summer, a co-production between Cherwell Theatre Company and Northampton’s Royal & Derngate, is something a little different, and there is no problem with that. Part gig, part theatre, this creation has been a labour of love for several years of the writer and director Tristan Jackson-Pate. So, was it worth all those years in creation?

Set in Northampton in 2006 and featuring a group of teens going through a mixture of highs and lows and set to the music of its time, this uplifting tale offers some poignant moments as Alex as his friends follow the age-old and challenging coming-of-age tale, via the medium of trying to create their own The Libertines beating music act.

It is a curious piece to review, sometimes stunning and beautiful, sometimes chaotic and confusing.
This is both a heroic failure and a heroic success of a show. However, with all of its strength in a blistering second act, this ends in triumph and much of the early issues forgotten.

Much of the success is due to some excellent performances by the wonderful young cast. Charles Sloboda-Bolton plays the delightful and eager-to-please Alex with grungy style, needy for success and willing to be used as a result. That user is the poetic and overconfident Leo, played with supreme loftiness by Matt Leaman. There is much to hate from the character, but the eventual charm gets through and, by the end, maybe you love him a bit for his superiorness.

I absolutely loved the brilliant awkwardness of Olivia Bennett as drummer Max, perhaps written as an obviously caricatured drummer, but she provides a great amount of humour in the show. Bennett’s drumming skills also are, like all of this cast's music ability, top-notch. Robert Elliott especially shows much of those excellent skills in his role as Owen.

Finally, from the main cast is a hugely passionate performance by Roberta Carraro as Rachel. Her scene in the second act with Alex is the most dramatic moment of the production and is immensely well played by Carraro.

The rest of the cast consists of local performers, and they in turn act as a gig crowd and a rather curious Greek chorus for events, including some nicely created movement pieces by Hlamalani Georgina Graaff Makhubele. The Greek Chorus-style pieces could have been excellent if they had been easier to hear. We lost much of their dialogue within the venue, and I feel we all missed out as a result.

The venue itself of The Picturedrome brings both failure and success to the production. It is perfect for the show, this really would not work in a more stale theatre space, but as a result, it can get messy as scenes change. I have to say, however, that even despite the many issues with the space, the director and his crew have worked to get the show into the space extremely well. Technically, it went reasonably well, but sadly there were a few issues with mics and other sound issues, but the good outweighed the bad.

Song of the Summer is a love letter to both Northampton and the music world of the 2000s, which has some superb music clearly inspired by the era, one song, in particular, is an absolute cracker, and while it has its issues, it comes highly recommended as providing something very different.

Uplifting and heartwarming, filled with excellent music and performances.
⭐⭐⭐½

Performance reviewed: Wednesday 17th August 2022 at The Picturedrome, Northampton.

Song of the Summer runs at The Picturedrome until Sunday 21st August 2022.

Tickets can be purchased via Royal & Derngate at their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Production photos: Rosy Addison