Bonnie and Clyde wanted to be famous.
Bonnie, in the more traditional sense. She wanted to be a movie star, or a writer, or a model plastered all over the front covers of magazines. Clyde simply wanted to be Al Capone. But they still shared a common enough ground – a desperation to escape their mundane surroundings and do something significant with their lives. More than anything, they both just wanted to be noticed.
And they got their wish in the end, didn’t they?
Now, I’m not sure how I feel about this. Maybe it’s because I once saw an episode of Cracker where Robbie Coltrane absolutely lost his mind at a serial-killer-couple whose crimes had been inspired by the movie-version of Bonnie and Clyde – and that despite Coltrane’s character being fictional and Coltrane himself now being dead – I’d still quite like to be his friend, and there’s a strange (insane) part of me that thinks that’d be more likely to happen if I supported his stance on this.
Either that, or I’m just in the mood to be a bit pious, because on the night, it just didn’t sit well with me that I didn’t know the names of the many people Bonnie and Clyde murdered but was watching a show that had quite literally put both their names up in lights. Not to mention, I was sat amongst a crowd of people that cheered on their rampage like they were watching Danny and Sandy doing the whoop-whop-woo.
Of course, the audience were mainly cheering Alex James-Hutton and Katie Tonkinson for their excellent portrayals – which to be fair, do not entirely glorify the eponymous pair – instead seem to play into what a tragedy it was that this young couple chose to waste their lives this way.
James-Hatton has a voice you don’t hear very often, it’s got a kind of pop-rock quality that hasn’t been trained out of him in drama school and would have no doubt made him a lot of money in the 1980’s in a band like Journey or Van Halen. If you’re not absolutely dumbstruck by the fact a human being can be making these sounds, then you’ve clearly been overexposed to unique talent.
Tonkinson similarly commits to what I suspect is a stark departure from her natural tone – perfecting a Southern country drawl, fitting for her well-crafted characterisation of Bonnie.
But it’s Catherine Tyldesley who steals the show as Blanche. What a voice! – even aside from her striking vocals, her accent too is impeccable throughout. You simply will not be able to take your eyes off her. She absorbs all of the audience’s attention and deservedly keeps it to herself, so much so, you’ve got to feel for those she shares the stage with. Sam Ferriday gives it a go, as the dim-witted brother of Clyde and Blanche’s husband ‘Buck’, and as a result of his noble efforts to compete, these two actually make a much more compelling pair to follow. They at least have a story propelled forward by a conflict that seems authentic and worthy of your investment.
Buck chooses to go back to prison for Blanche, who is keen for him to stay out of trouble and away from Clyde – but in doing so, resigns himself to what he considers to be a lesser existence, watching Clyde and his lucrative thrill-ride from afar. He opts for a small, impoverished life filled with love rather than riches, but is forever tempted by the danger and excitement of life on the run.
And this brings me to the problem with Bonnie and Clyde – The Musical, aside from the underlying guilt I felt for being undoubtedly entertained by a show that immortalises the duo in exactly the way they would have wished, the real crime committed here is that this pair’s story just isn’t all that interesting.
Clyde robs a bank, goes to prison, breaks out, robs another bank, goes to prison again, breaks out again and then robs some more banks – only this time with some added Bonnie thrown into the mix… until, well… they rob one bank too many. It’s as simple – and at times, as boring – as that. The show isn’t all that long, but at times it really does feel it. Particularly in its baggy first act.
It’s a shame because I think there is a story in this somewhere – but it seems like Ivan Menchell’s book can’t decide whether or not it wants to be an accessible crowd-pleaser, or to lean more into the severity of Bonnie and Clyde’s crimes and their complex, perhaps even coercive relationship. Instead, there are mere crumbs of this kind of mature content thinly spread throughout – with approximately three swear words thrown in for safe measure and a random sex-scene that when compared to the rest of this rather PG affair, sticks out like some unexplained nudity on The Masked Singer.
What saves the show is the music – with great numbers such as ‘Raise a little hell’ and ‘Dyin ain’t so bad’ and personal fave, Tyldesley and Tonkinson’s duet ‘You love who you love’ – all performed by what is unquestionably a world-class cast.
Judging Bonnie and Clyde – The Musical purely on production quality alone, I have to say it certainly has its moments and features some strong performances – all adding up to a solid night out at the theatre. But the main fault I personally couldn’t get away from is the subject matter this production is tied to – not simply because it recasts homicidal thieves as misunderstood folklore heroes, but because the nuts and bolts of their actual story is sadly as shallow and tedious as the way the pair pointlessly chose to spend, and ultimately end their lives.
Venue: Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff until 30.03.2024
UK Tour info here.
Cast: Alex James-Hutton, Katie Tonkinson, Catherine Tyldesley and Sam Ferriday