Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, Lyric Hammersmith, London
But will it be a long player?
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Your support makes all the difference.Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others does not intend to be that musical. A physical theatre production performed by four women and two men, accompanied by a string quartet, it attempts to tell a story of fractured lives through the words and music of 20 classic Smiths songs.
After a confusing start, it breaks into life with a raucous, violent version of "Unlovable". Then things get complicated. The music is beyond criticism and many of the voices, in particular those belonging to Sean Kingsley and Katrine Lunde, are superb. But the plot, what plot there is, can be hard to follow.
In the second half, the stories begin to come together. "Barbarism Begins At Home" becomes a tap-dancing paean to domestic abuse. The beaten wife explains why she won't return in "Back To The Old House" before the guilt-ridden husband says he will always love her in "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle".
Anonymous Society has built a reputation for challenging physical theatre based on classic soundtracks. This will no doubt add to that standing, but non-Smiths fans may leave a little confused. Steve Bloomfield
To 23 July, 0870 050 0511
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