🎭 No Limits
📍 The Turbine Theatre, Arches Lane, Nine Elms, London, SW11 8AB
🗓 Friday 17th February 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️.5
THERE’S NO LIMITS TO HOW BIG THIS SHOW CAN BECOME
On Friday I was invited to The Turbine Theatre for the press night of new musical No Limits. Rather than a traditional musical with a continuous narrative throughout, this was a song cycle which essentially means that it was a collection of different songs all with different narratives and completely unrelated to one another.
There’s a danger that this format could leave the audience disconnected from the material but this could not be further from the truth for this production. I found it incredible that an entire story could be told in just 3 or 4 minutes and i was convincingly drawn in to every scenario.
As with any show there were some songs I enjoyed more than others and overall I think the second act was much stronger than the first, but there was no throwaway or weak songs which I thought was a testament to how good the writing of this piece is.
Production Image: Standing - Owen Clayton; Hannah Lowther; Mary Moore
Sitting - Michael Mather; Natalie May Paris
The music and lyrics by Sam Thomas were cleverly written and were enjoyable. A real mix of content which featured everything from a Grindr date and catfishing someone, to a cheating partner and living your dreams. I would love to hear the songs again and am feeling the need for a cast recording!
The cast of No Limits are absolutely incredible and do not disappoint. Michael Mather beautifully displays real emotion and excels with his storytelling through song and there are really no words that feel strong enough to express just how good of a performance Natalie May Paris gave. She gave belting performances, each one of which deserved its own standing ovation!
Owen Clayton effortlessly showed off powerhouse vocals while Mary Moore and Hannah Lowther competently gave strong performances.
Production Image: Michael Mather
Directed by Dean Johnson and produced by Sam Caldwell, this show really shines a beacon on the high standard being delivered from young creatives.
Most of the songs were solo numbers, although there were a few duets sprinkled throughout, and occasionally the entire cast sang together although as separate characters living separate experiences. Because of this there was no choreography as such but the movement was directed by Rhys Wilkinson. My favourite moment was during a duet by Mather and Clayton which was extraordinary.
The stage at The Turbine Theatre is quite small but the set design by Justin Williams cleverly used the space and almost made it seem bigger than it was. The set was essentially an apartment and characters would often bring on a prop to personalise it to themselves, but there was also a cleverly placed screen on the stage which changed image with each song and effectively became a different piece of art to symbolise a different home and relate to the character. The screen was also used to show us social media interactions.
Production Image: Natalie May Paris
The show from Paper House Productions continues at The Turbine Theatre until Sunday 26th February and is not to be missed. Head to https://tickets.theturbinetheatre.com/en/buyingflow/tickets/12249/ to check availability and book tickets.
I really loved everything about this show and the only thing that stopped this from being a 5 star review is that I felt it just needs a bit more polishing before it's perfect. This show is still very much in its infancy and I've no doubt that if I were to review this production again in the future that it would easily reach the 5 stars it deserves.
I am excited to see this show grow and I think it definitely deserves a West End run.
Neill Kovacic-Clarke
All views are my own and I pride myself on being open, honest and free from influence.
My tickets for this performance were gifted by Tobin & Miles PR who invited me to the Press Night to review the production. The fact that my tickets were gifted played no part in my star rating for this review.
Production Image
The Turbine Theatre is on the banks of the Thames next to the iconic Battersea Power Station, founded and led by Artistic Director Paul Taylor-Mills.