Review: THE HARDER THEY COME, Stratford East

Photo credit: Danny Kaan

Stratford East’s The Harder They Come, as well as being a celebration of reggae, is a terrific piece of theatre.

Based on the 1972 film of the same title, The Harder They Come tells the story of Ivanhoe Martin, a character based on “Rhyging”, a real-life Jamaican gun man. The movie brought Jimmy Cliff and his music onto the international stage and in this production with a book by Pulitzer prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, Cliff’s music is supplemented with numbers by other reggae artists. And what music that is – ‘Rivers of Babylon’, ‘Israelites’, ‘Wonderful World, Beautiful People’ – with close to 30 numbers, if nothing else, this show is a glorious celebration of the place of reggae in our culture.

All of the elements of this superb production do terrific justice to that music. Simon Kenny’s split-level set, together with Ciarán Cunnigham’s lighting and Jessica Cabassa’s costumes, instantly transport the audience to Jamaica in the 1970s. Opening with ‘Funky Kingston’, from the start, the singing and choreography are spot on and you know you are in good hands.

But The Harder They Come is much more than simply a jukebox musical. Parks’ book brings strong characters to life, held together throughout the evening by Natey Jones as Ivan who we meet on his return to Kingston from his grandmother‘s farm.

Full of wide-eyed optimism and determined to make a hit record, Jones has the audience in the palm of his hand throughout the show. His infectious enthusiasm, easy charm and terrific vocals take us through a strong first act believing in a character who is determined to be a success. Finding that making a record isn’t as instantly easy as he expects, Ivan takes up work as a handyman for the church where he meets Elsa. Madeleine Charlemagne as Elsa also charms, albeit in a quiet way, also has a great voice and is a centred counterfoil to Ivan‘s exuberance.

These two strong leads are well supported by other characters, many of whom present the obstacles that Ivan must try and overcome. As the preacher, who also happens to be Elsa’s guardian and has designs on her, Jason Pennycooke gets the best laughs of the evening. Thomas Vernal as Mr Hilton, the record producer who controls playlists and can either make or break Ivan‘s ambitions, cuts a powerful figure, and Danny Bailey as the ganja grower and dealer makes you believe how he might ultimately persuade Ivan to work for him.

The singing and dancing is strong from everyone, with the ensemble providing first-rate support. Matthew Xia’s direction keeps everything zipping along, helped in no short measure by Shelley Maxwell‘s choreography.

Act 1 has tremendous set pieces. Ivan and his mates going to see the film Django cleverly interlaces film footage with live action and sets up Ivan to believe that ‘Hero Don’t Never Die’. This number is one of several new songs by Parks all of which fit seamlessly in with the other original reggae numbers. ‘Let’s Come in this House’ reveals, in all senses of that word, exactly what the congregation has in mind during the preacher’s sermon and brings an element of raunch to the show just at the point when things could seem to be getting too sweet.

Act 1 ends with ‘The Time is Now’ (another Parks’ number) and we go into to the interval rooting for Ivan to succeed.

The shorter second act has a lot to carry and it is here that the tone and message of the show sometimes feels at odds with the overall perky nature of the production. With Ivan‘s musical ambitions having been stymied by Hilton when Jose again asks Ivan to join his gang of ganja runners, Ivan accepts and his subsequent run in with police corruption leads to his ultimate tragedy. There’s a lot of heavy themes here and it’s hard to work out how Ivan turns out to be a folk hero.

It is left to Josie Benson as Daisy, Ivan‘s mother, to provide the emotional weight that the show needs, and Benson rises to the challenge. The show is book-ended by pivotal scenes between Daisy and Ivan. In Act 1, Daisy tries to persuade her son to return to the farm sensing that no good will come if he stays in the city. Towards the end of Act 2, her scene with him coming to say goodbye is hugely affecting and Benson is superb in both of these moments.

The reprise of ‘The Harder They Come’ closing the show is so exuberant that it would be easy to overlook the irony of the cost that Ivan ultimately paid for stardom. But the energy of the ensemble is such that you cannot fail to be swept up in the power of the music and dance.

Go see The Harder They Come for the reggae and leave with important questions about just what is the price of fame.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Mike Askew

The Harder They Come plays at Stratford East until 1 November, with further info here.