Review: END OF THE RAINBOW, Soho Theatre Walthamstow
Photo credit: Danny Kaan
As the marketing for End of the Rainbow at Soho Theatre Walthamstow states, Jinkx Monsoon is Judy Garland. The show is an electrically exposing few hours at the theatre, and between moments of vaudevillian charm spliced with expletives, an audience is affronted with the cost that global stardom can bring to a human being.
The disease of addiction is on full show (both in terms of others’ addiction to Judy Garland and also Garland’s addictions to alcohol and prescription drugs) in a way that is importantly uncomfortable. The cost of an audience’s expectations is laid bare savagely. This show is as much an exploration of Judy Garland’s mind as it is about societal abuse at the hands of the patriarchy and the toll this takes.
The entire cast do a great job at helping build the world around Judy Garland’s stardom, with Adam Filipe (playing Judy’s pianist, Anthony) convincingly bringing a tenderness of heart one rarely encounters in people. The other company members’ generosity paves the yellow-brick road for Jinkx Monsoon’s soaring performance as Judy Garland. The meticulous preparation for this starring role is clear, and yet invisible. Monsoon deals with the trappings of fame, addiction, and cycles of abuse elegantly, and it would be foolish to miss a performance of this calibre.
Jasmine Swan’s set and costume design feels very true and is undoubtedly meticulously researched. The electrifying of the colour palette coinciding with Judy’s losing of control against the heaven-like white draped curtains manages to ground what could become a spiralling sequence deftly.
Despite the heaviness of the play, there is something of the ‘play within a play’ going on in Peter Quilter’s writing and Rupert Hands’ direction. We, as the audience, experience the costs to a performer of an expectant audience and yet, are given a show that is inarguably sumptuous and comes at a cost to all involved in its creation.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Jeff Mostyn
End of the Rainbow plays at Soho Theatre Walthamstow until 21 June, with further info here.
