Review: Buyer & Cellar | King's Head Theatre
Rob Madge stars in the revival of a solo piece... on Barbra Streisand!
What happens when one of the most legendary figures in the world of stage and scree meets an ex-Disneyland Cast Member in a fancy emporium in the middle of Malibu?
Playwright Jonathan Tolins, inspired by the famed star's seemingly unbelievable basement idea of an underground shopping mall hidden away in the actress’ home to the west of Downtown Los Angeles, penned a one-person show, told from the perspective of an employee hired to work exclusively at the secret shop.
The play opens with the protagonist (and only onstage character) Alex More directly addressing the audience, claiming that the accounts in the story are completely fictional as well as a direct reference to the playwright himself - though it of course goes without saying, these accounts may well feel completely genuine, to the more theatrically minded audiences anyway - and the rest of the story is told as story-within-a-story flashbacks to Alex's offstage boyfriend, Barry.
Freshly fired from his job in Toontown - merchandise and retail to be precise, Alex finds himself wandering into an application for what is revealed on the spot as singer-actress and EGOT winner Barbra Streisand's basement curator (both being dream jobs, if you ask us!), but it seems that the job description involves a bit more than just looking after the expensive antiques in the shop.
Taking on the challenge of almost multi-roling to bring the different perspectives as jump-cut monologues in Alex's story to life is none other than the wonderful Rob Madge, who has quickly risen to fame with their recent solo shows My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?) and Regards to Broadway (the latter received a glowing five stars from us). Using just a singular chair plus Barbra's memoir, Madge's immaculate impressions and body language to instantly switch between characters perfectly demonstrates their versatility, bringing a flair of fun to the most deliberately deadpan of moments - a performance worth a ticket on its own.
Also starring Rob Madge
Much of the story's genius works with the collaboration between Tolin's clever book-writing and new direction Kirk Jameson a decade on from when the play first debuted; using the intimacy of the thrust stage, Ingrid Hu's intentionally two-dimensional set (linking to the claustrophobic idea) works together with Jack Weir's location-informing lighting design. The canvas created allows the audience to hone in on the accounts brought to life using nothing more than words and gestures, along with a fun touches like original background arrangements of Streisand's discography by Emily Rose Simons, or the down-to-earth humour contrastingly attributed to the diva - the likes of using vouchers to custom save on an “overpriced” doll - chuckle-inducing moments as such.
As famous as Streisand herself might be, most humour requires basic context of the key influential figures in the world of film and theatre, so for those less in the know, the 100-minutes of non-stop monologues (kudos to Madge - an undisputed star indeed) can occasionally be a slow burn so could be pushed for momentum to leave audiences continuously hooked, but with musical references aplenty, the alternative insight into the lesser known private lives of stage stars is a feat of a performance - a fever dream for theatre kids (and kids at heart).
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (4*)
Buyer & Cellar plays at King's Head Theatre until 19 October before playing a limited engagement at Theatre Royal Plymouth from 29 October. For more information and to book tickets, visit the venue website.
Tickets and Accessibility
🎟️ Tickets were kindly gifted by the press representatives for the show. All views are my own, without any input or opinion from the producers or venue. Standard tickets are priced from £26.50, with concessions available and 10 seats for £10 at every performance.
♾️ There are no sudden loud noises in the show, with soft music played at certain scenes in the background. Due to the nature of the space, some lights directed at the stage may overspill into the front rows on each side of the audience, and some lighting states snap transition into the next.