A Strange Loop – Barbican Theatre – Saturday 5th August 2023

(Rated 5/5) I absolutely love the concept behind ‘A Strange Loop’. In fact, it is just my cup of tea, and I wish I’d had the idea myself! It is the story of Usher, who is a Broadway theatre usher and who is young, black, gay and a little tubby around the tum, and in the show, Usher is writing about Usher – theatre usher, young, black, gay, tubby – who is writing about Usher – theatre usher, etc, etc, etc, etc. You get the idea, I hope. And which came first in this strange loop, Usher, or Usher, or indeed Usher, wherever you start you get back to the origin being the destination, just like the age-old argument about the chicken and the egg. So, it’s very philosophical. It’s also very psychological. The supporting cast all play a ‘Thought’ each. For example, one thought transmits Usher’s ‘daily dose of self-loathing’, another his kind, encouraging inner self-talk, and another… there are six in total. They are like sub-personalities in a sense, and throughout the show shout ‘stuff’ (my word for issues, if you like) at him, while he is trying to make his way along internal and external paths, being obstacles or supporters in his physical, metaphorical and inner psychological journeys. At points they embody real characters in his life – his mom, dad, a potential date on a train. And of course, Usher interacts with all of them – dancing, singing and moving from concept to concept, scene to scene, as he tries to figure out what his show is all about. Of course, the thoughts and characters have their own ideas on that and again help, hinder, or even hijack his process. There’s plenty of fun, laughter, sadness and angst along the way. Various themes are explored as Usher attempts to discover who he is as he faces the difficulties of the multitude of factors about him, that would lead to conflict with culture, the church, the community, white, straight, men, women, and all other others, which may lead him to feel like an other, who does not fit! We had ‘Alternate Usher’, played by Kyle Birch. We thought he was brilliant. Such a wonderfully sensitive singer and performer. The songs in this show are lovely, poignant and catchy too. In fact, I have decided I am going to list the titles as they speak for themselves in relation to each of their focuses: ‘We Wanna Know’, ‘Inner White Girl’ (my favourite right now), ‘A Strange Loop’, ‘Intermission Song’, ‘Memory Song’, ‘Inwood Daddy’, ‘Exile in Gayville’, ‘Tyler Perry Writes Real Life’, ‘Intermission Song’, ‘Periodically’, ‘Precious Little Dream/AIDS is God’s Punishment’, ‘A Sympathetic Ear’, ‘Boundaries’ and ‘Second Wave’. As always in any musical each song contains so much of the essence of the character singing it and their story. Usher himself sings in all of them (I think!), so they tell the story of all his selves… with and without masks… in union or in conflict with the selves of others etc. I know I want to listen to them all over and over again to get everything. Perhaps I need to get a copy of the script too. That brings me to my only complaint about the show itself… American English really is a different language to English English, and at points Usher and his thoughts were talking so fast my poor little English ears couldn’t keep up or my brain didn’t understand, so I believe I missed a fair bit. Then again, I also feel it’s a show you’d need to see over and over again to get everything contained within it. It was adapted a little from the Broadway version for London audiences, as I understand it, but I reckon some things don’t quite translate anyway, which is fine. Just a consequence being elements get lost in translation, which in a way fits with the themes of the play around not being understood or accepted. In looking through the programme, I was amazed at how many producers this show has! I counted 27 of various types, including Johannes Radebe, Alan Cumming, Stephen Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw. There is also an intimacy director and drama therapist. Michael R. Jackson is responsible for the play, music, lyrics and vocal arrangements. Apparently, it all started as a monologue he wrote in drama school, and which took many years to become the show it is today. He is very clever writer in my view, and I think a legend in America. We had very front and very side seats in the circle. At first, we thought they were comfortable, but soon they turned out not to be – I did a lot of shifting myself around. But, they were ‘cheap’. The staging and production are superb though – colourful, glitzy and wild!

Yes, if you find yourself interested in the show from what I have written, I would highly recommend it. And as Johannes said, it educates as well as entertains. If not, then it simply may not be your cup of American tea 😉 A Strange Loop – Review by TheRestrictedReviewer © 2023