5 August 2011
London Road - is a musical about the Suffolk Strangler's murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich... A bit funny, a bit touching and a tiny bit annoying too!
The National Theater insist that this production is "A very serious look at the effect on a community". True - the action is all based in and around the houses of the locals who lived on London Road during the murders. The plot follows the investigations that lead to the final arrest of Steve Wright, a local man found guilty of committing the horrid crimes. All narrative is replaced by clever songs and spoken verse. The staging is contemporary and the costumes low budget Primark! The versatile cast cope well with the challenge of playing multiple characters and the song with the animatronic six foot santa is not to be missed! At times the dialect swerves dangerously in to Vicky Pollard land, but stick with it! - the final scene with the hanging baskets is reward indeed!
Wright, 52, was jailed for life for murdering Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29. All victims were found near Ipswich over a 10-day period at the end of 2006. R.I.P.
8 out of 10
