Tim Burton-esque, emotional, hilarious and camp – ‘The Grinning Man’, presented by Salty Theatre and Vass Productions, is a bewildering romp through London with an intriguing character, Grinpayne, at its centre.
‘The Grinning Man’ is based on Victor Hugo’s 1869 novel ‘The Man Who Laughs’. The story is interesting – a man mysteriously disfigured as a child who spends the duration of the show wondering who is responsible for what has happened to him. Maxwell Simon’s Grinpayne is nuanced and deeply misunderstood; his desire to find out the truth palpable. Maxwell’s vocal range is phenomenal too – his loud, booming singing voice filling the Alex Theatre and sending shivers down the spine.
Filling the show is a veritable motley crew of characters – each one as interesting and multi-layered as the next. Stand-outs include Melanie Bird as the tunnel-visioned, sultry Princess Josiana, who brings a contemporary sass and colour to the role as well as some hilarious physical comedy; Anthony Craig as Lord Dirry-Moir, drunk with power and hysterical to watch; and Jennifer Vuletic as Barkilphedro, a pathetic yet overbold clown hiding a dark secret.
Image © Ben Fon
Set design is minimal but effective – relatively static – but curtains and large velvet sheets brought on stage bring the extra theatricality and meta nature to the piece well. It’s a play within a play, and this means the audience is its own character.
The music, much like the show overall, has a spooky yet beautiful quality to it – cleverly-written lyrics which tug at the heartstrings and move the story along stunningly. . . And the live musicians (props especially to Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward for playing the cello side stage as well as manoeuvring a puppet on stage and appearing in some of the dance pieces!) are totally faultless and a joy to witness.
Costuming is nicely done, believable and camp. Stand-outs being Barkilphedro, Princess Josiana and Lord Dirry-Moir.
‘The Grinning Man’ is a great night at the theatre. It’s a heartwarming, sad, funny tale. . . With an interesting – and fabulously talented – cast of characters to tell it.
