ajhlovestheatre

THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE

Book by Lauren Gunderson

Music and Lyrics by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart

Based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger, and the New Line Cinema film, screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin

Apollo Theatre London – until 30 March 2024

https://timetravellerswife.com

What with Back To The Future The Musical continuing to pack them in on both sides of the Atlantic, and the ecstatic critical and popular reception to the Old Vic’s breathtaking Groundhog Day, it would seem that time travel and musical theatre are a match made in heaven. And now we have another example of this unlikely subgenre with this likeable adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s much loved sci-fi-meets-romance novel which has already spawned a movie and a TV series.

On paper, The Time Traveller’s Wife’s biggest selling point, aside from the inbuilt fandom inspired by the book and the film, would seem to be a score by Dave (Eurythmics) Stewart and Grammy and Brit award winner Joss Stone. It’s a surprise then that the contribution of Stewart and Stone probably turns out to be the weakest aspect of the project. The songs are certainly pleasant but lack the theatrical propulsion required to really make a musical take flight: it sounds like a middle-of-the-road pop album, not a bona fide stage score, despite being magnificently sung throughout. The underscoring is suitably haunting and dramatic but there are few memorable tunes.

That this matters surprisingly little overall speaks to the intelligence and fluidity of Bill Buckhurst’s modestly scaled but frequently dazzling staging, and a pair of lead performances that soar and sparkle over and above the material. It also helps that Lauren Gunderson’s script presents Niffenegger’s fanciful narrative – budding artist and all-American girl Clare meets Henry, a boy with a unique genetic mutation forcing him to unexpectedly travel through time at the drop of a hat – with admirable clarity, further aided by explanatory projections on the walls of Anna Fleischle’s set. The smart storytelling of the first act gives way to a certain clunkiness in the second half that the bounce and invention of the staging goes some way towards covering up. Probably best not to dwell on the fact that Clare is only 10 years old to Henry’s 28 when they first meet, thanks to the messed up chronology of this tall tale. The whole thing is such a preposterous proposition that emotional connection might prove challenging, if it weren’t for the presence of David Hunter and Joanna Woodward in the leading roles.

Hunter and Woodward give us a hero and heroine worth rooting for: warm, relatable (despite the bonkers nature of the story), multi-faceted and entirely human. The central premise may be unlikely but the two stars play it like they’re in Ibsen, albeit with humour, and make something genuinely affecting out of this bizarre love story ricocheting through time. Hunter is one of this country’s most endearing leading men and brings his characteristic charm, unexpected vulnerability and off-kilter comedy, as well as a terrific singing voice, to a character that could so easily be an angsty cypher in lesser hands.

Opposite him, Woodward is astonishingly good. Similar to Gabriel Vick’s barnstorming turn in Mrs Doubtfire over at the Shaftesbury, here’s a performer finally achieving deserved West End star status following years of fine supporting work. There’s a hint of Emma Stone in Woodward’s full throttle acting choices, bright-eye feistiness and extraordinary emotional transparency, and her vocals are exhilarating. She ages up and down convincingly, is vulnerable without ever turning sappy, blazes into righteous anger with real power, and achieves an almost classical level intensity towards the end when Clare realises that the love of her life is destined to be lost forever in time. This is a performance that should put Ms Woodward at the top of every casting director’s wish list, and if she’s not headlining as Sally Bowles within the next two years, it’ll be a travesty. In the meantime, she and Hunter are worth the price of a Time Traveller’s Wife ticket all by themselves.

Tim Mahendran and Hiba Elchikhe – both fabulous singers – are adorable as the spiky secondary couple who are lifelong friends of the principal pair and there’s sensitive, nuanced work from Ross Dawes as Henry’s resentful, borderline alcoholic father. At the performance I saw, Holly-Jade Roberts, who alternates with a trio of other young performers, played childhood Clare and then Alba, Clare and Henry’s daughter, with a mature, winning combination of innocence and scrappiness.

Buckhurst’s production makes good use of the revolve, some striking projections and, best of all, old fashioned stage magic – disappearances, body doubles, levitations – that will be familiar to seasoned theatregoers but still provide a ripple of pleasure. Henry’s traversing between time zones is achieved with a white hot flash of light (Rory Beaton and Lucy Carter’s lighting is impressive throughout, as are Andrzej Goulding’s impressionistic video designs) and a crack of ear-splitting sound, and is exciting every time.

As a play with songs, it works pretty well, in no small part because it is so well acted, but it comes a bit unstuck when it tries to play by the rules of traditional musical theatre: for example, a comedy argument number set at Clare’s art gallery opening suddenly, pointlessly breaks into dance, presumably because this is a tuner and we apparently we need choreography, however inappropriate. The line-dancing wedding act one closer has a similarly over-staged feel, and the anthemic finale is stirringly sung but feels generic with the cast gazing into the middle distance while belting their faces off with the assertion that ‘Love Wins The Day’.

Less bombastic and technically virtuosic than Stewart’s earlier Ghost musical, The Time Traveller’s Wife works best when it leans into its quirks, or when there’s the anticipation of magic (illusions by Rick Fisher), and whenever the leads are front and centre. The songs are insufficiently distinctive to lift this into the realms of great musical theatre, but it’s an undeniably enjoyable night out, and Hunter and Woodward are the real deal.