This was published 7 years ago
The Last Five Years review: intimate two-hander with a chronological twist
By Cameron Woodhead
MUSICAL
THE LAST FIVE YEARS ★★★
Jason Robert Brown, Vic Theatre Company
Fortyfivedownstairs
Until December 11
From love at first sight to the turmoil of marriage breakdown (and everything in between), The Last Five Years charts the course of a doomed romance. Jason Robert Brown's chamber musical is an intimate two-hander with a chronological twist. Jamie, a writer whose career is going gangbusters, moves forward in time; Cathy, a struggling actress, is portrayed in reverse.
Musical theatre talents Josh Piterman and Verity Hunt-Ballard in The Last Five Years.
Whatever this device loses by way of self-imposed spoiler is made up for by the emotional interplay of different stages in the relationship. No moment of joy, not even the soaring synchrony when the characters make their wedding vows, is ever far away from bittersweet foreshadowing or heartbroken counterpoint.
The Last Five Years seems an apt choice for Vic Theatre Company. The newish indie outfit has devoted itself to staging ambitious and unusual musicals, and debuted with the little-known Loving Repeating – a musical tribute to the life and work of Gertrude Stein – in 2015.
Here, it brings together two very fine musical theatre talents, Verity Hunt-Ballard and Josh Piterman, in a propulsive and elegantly designed production that plays to the show's strengths while failing to disguise some overt flaws.
Hunt-Ballard gives a versatile performance that hits the full emotive range, from opening tear-jerker Still Hurting to the goofily upbeat parody of showbiz life in Summer in Ohio.
Unfortunately, the role itself has a thankless aspect. Seen through a male artist's biased lens, Cathy is psychologically underwritten – resentful, insecure and lacking in agency because her career is failing – and I'm not sure Hunt-Ballard squeezes out every last drop of charm to offset her character's shallow and unlikeable side.
The problem is more acute for Piterman's Jamie, whose narcissistic bastardry (and surprising lack of self-knowledge, for a writer) is plain, and needs the undercurrent of vulnerability that lurks beneath, say, the manic Jewish humour of a song like Shiksa Goddess, to really shine through. He's still attractive and dashing at the show's romantic core, though his vocal timing can be imprecise in comic numbers.
Chris Parker directs with pace and surging emotion, and provides enough visual interest without resorting to stage business. It's a fair production of a problematic, though melodically rich, musical. While the songs can be wonderful, the acting needs more subtlety and granulation if this young couple is to carry the audience with them on the arc from first infatuation to final disillusionment.