Treason is a new British musical based on the 1605 Gunpowder plot with a book by Allan & Kieran Lynn and Music and Lyrics by Ricky Allan. A fully stage production of Treason has been highly anticipated after it's sold out concert version which took place at the Theatre Royal Dury Lane back in 2022. The show is currently doing a small four venue tour and I was lucky enough to be invited to review the show at it's stop at Sheffield's Lyceum theatre.
Treason The Musical tells the story of the gunpowder plot but not the way I was expecting, instead of telling the story from Guy fawkes (Gabriel Akamo) point of view it focuses on the story of Thomas (Sam Ferriday) and Martha Percy (Nicole Raquel Dennis) with Guy Fawks acting as narrator. Thomas and Martha were Catholic and in the 1600 it was the protestants which dominated England whilst the Catholics were persecuted for their religious beliefs. Queen Elizabeth I was the monarch on the thrown during the start of the musical but with no airs when she passes the thrown would be inherited by king James VI of Scotland (Joe McFadden). With the hope that King James may be more sympathetic towards the Catholics due to the fact his mother was Catholic Martha convinces her husband to try and speak with him. Thomas does manage to get an audience with the king and is able to gets him to agrees to more religious tolerance when he takes the English thrown. Once King James VI of Scotland takes over the English thrown it isn't long before he goes back on his word and Catholics are once again persecuted. This leads to Martha being beaten and her and Thomas's unborn child loses its life, this pushes Thomas over the edge and he ends up getting involved with the plotters who are led by Robert Catesby (Connor Jones). Thomas leaves with the plotters leaving Martha alone not knowing where her husband has gone or what he is up to. The plotters plan to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605 however a letter of warning was received by the authorities which resulted in the death of the plotters.
One of the best things about this musical has to be Ricky Allan's folk inspired score there are some fantastic songs in this musical and as well as sounding great they also help to tell the story and give more insight into the characters. Some of my favourite's songs include "Blind Faith" a gorgeous duet between Martha and her husband Thomas Percy. I also really enjoyed "The Cold, Hard, Ground, this is a really powerful song sung by Robert Catesby and it gives you a bit more of an insight into the character. I also really loved Marth Percy's big solo number "The Inevitable" this song is just beautiful and Nicole Raquel Dennis gave a fantastic vocal performance.
I was really impressed with the set design by Philip Witcomb it was simple but effective and wrapped around the whole stage, it felt quite eerie and dark which was helped by the use of candles which littered the stage. The lighting design by Jason Taylor and the sound design by Tom Marshall really complemented the set and helped add to the dark and eery atmosphere. I enjoyed the costumes which were also design by Philip Witcomb, he has gone with a very neutral colour pallet for the costumes which were nicely detailed and seemed historically accurate for the time the musical is set.
This production has an extremely talented cast Gabriel Akamo's Guy Falk's was a strong but eerie presence on stage as he narrated the story. Sam Ferriday as the tormented Thomas Percy was fantastic and delivered the dynamic vocals with ease. Nicole Raquel Dennis as Martha Percy delivered a strong and believable performance with vocals to die for, their version of
"The Inevitable" was beautiful and was the stand out performance of the night for me.
Connor Jones as Robert Catesby gave a strong vocal performance and Joe Mcfadden as King James and Oscar Conlon-Morrey as Robert Cecil made a great double act bringing a little bit of humour to an otherwise very serious production. I also have to mention Emilie Louise Israel as Anne Vax her vocals were outstanding and I relay enjoyed all the musical numbers which she got to perform.
The ensemble were also great and worked together brilliantly both on the choreography and creating the beautiful harmonies.
I really enjoyed Treason it has an interesting take on a historical event and the story is gripping and engaging. The show has a unique score with some fantastic songs which were showcased perfectly by the exceptional vocal talent of the cast. I also have to say the cast did such an excellent job on the night as they had to deal with a delayed start due to technical difficulties and a show stop early on in act 2. I definitely recommend Treason its a great new piece of British theatre which is unique and not like anything I have seen before.
Treason is running at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield until Saturday 4th November 2023
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Photo Credit - Danny Kaan
*Our tickets for this show were kindly gifted in exchange for an honest review
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