The Last Five Years | La Boite
La Boite’s production of The Last Five Years was exquisite and nothing short of seamless.
I was first acquainted with Jason Robert Brown’s critically acclaimed work when I was in high school and very much in my musical theatre phase. One thing that drew me to it was the bittersweet and raw aftertaste it left in my mouth as I listened through the score and connected the dots in the respective characters’ timelines.
Whilst I have watched the movie starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan more times than I can count, I’d never gotten the chance to see it live before. Thus, when La Boite announced it as a part of their 2022 season, I was both excited and anxious. What if they missed the mark in their adaptation? What if they failed to capture the nuanced emotions of the musicals’ story and themes? I can tell you now that they didn’t. They captured it all and hit the bullseye.
Image and cover: Morgan Roberts
For those that aren’t familiar with the musical, it is a melancholic exploration of the full life cycle of a relationship between a heterosexual couple, Jamie (Robert Tripolino) and Cathy (Danielle Remulta). Over the course of five years we see Cathy and Jamie meet for the first time, fall in love, get married and *spoiler alert* separate. The show uses a unique story device in which see Cathy’s narrative begin at the end of the relationship and work backwards while Jamie’s moves in a traditional linear fashion. They alternate between singing songs and only once do their timelines cross, during the wedding that takes place at the centre of the story. Even thinking about it gives me chills.
Director Darren Yap played so beautifully with the moments of looking, longing and near misses. In each song there was always a character longing for a glance, a look, a touch or an echo. And that glance, look, touch or echo was never received. There were some ‘ooo might it happen now’ which just made all the misses all the more painful. Having the characters walk up, down and around the banks of the roundhouse theatre made the show feel more intimate yet also more dynamic; really driving home the feeling of two individuals moving through time. Both together, yet also separated.
Image: Morgan Roberts
Set and costume designer Chloe Greaves created a deceptively minimalist set which at its core was a simple bedroom set at the base of tiered balconies. The set had so many levels, both literally and figuratively, and was used a clever device to illustrate the characters’ physical and emotional state in the time frame of each song. I also loved how the musicians were so exposed in the set design; I loved that our eyes were allowed to drift to them as they took us along this musical journey under the lead of musical director James Dobinson. They played for a straight 90 minutes and they did not miss a note. Brown’s score features flavours of blues, classical, contemporary musical theatre and even Klezmer; an eclectic variety which the band performed effortlessly.
And now to the leads… both Remulta and Tripolino were sublime. Right from the start, Tripolino embodied the magic and mayhem of a genius creative mind that is moving too fast for their own good. He plays into Jamie’s charm and charisma as well as his lack of emotional resilience. Remulta’s sympathetic portrayal of Cathy’s vulnerabilities and absence of self-belief is both endearing and easy to empathise with.Combined, both actors merge their creative forces to create an onstage chemistry that I won’t soon forget.
If you haven’t booked your ticket yet to see The Last Five Years, then just do it already.
The last Five Years plays at La Boite Theatre, Kelvin Grove until 18 June 2022
