“It’s a play about a girl living, not a girl dying” says writer David Lindsay-Abaire and musician Jeanine Tesori about their five-time, Tony Award-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo which makes its European debut at the Hampstead Theatre. It’s the story of Kimberly Levaco, a teenager living in small-town New Jersey with a severely dysfunctional family grappling with the usual angst and confusion of adolescence, whilst also living with a life-limiting illness that means she ages at four to five times the usual rate.
Hence why our eponymous heroine is played by multi-Olivier-Award-winning actress Maria Friedman, returning to the stage after some time away on the other side of the stage (most recently directing Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway). In interviews ahead of the show, Friedman has spoken at length about the joy she feels at playing such a rewarding role, and the dearth of roles for older women to embrace – saying she almost forgets her age when playing against such a young cast made up, mostly, of recent graduates. She captures Kimberly’s zest for life, her teenage awkwardness, her wise-beyond-her-years nature and her exhaustion with her family beautifully. And while her voice at points has some of the tenderness of youth, it still gives way to moments of intense power that she’s known for.
Robin Simões da Silva, Aviva Tulley, Ronav Jain, Gilli Jones and Alice Fearn in Kimberly Akimbo
There are great performances across the board from the supporting cast of eight who portray Kimberly’s classmates and family; a teenage love square with confused sexuality and on-point show-choir vocal harmonies, her troubled and troublesome parents and Seth Weetis (tenderly played by Gilli Jones), a pseudo-love interest who is a tuba-playing, self-confessed fan of the ‘puzzlistic arts’.
But it’s Alice Fearn as Kimberly’s aunt Debra who has made questionable life choices, and is recently out of prison, who repeatedly draws the eye. It’s a comedic role the likes of which she’s not played recently, but it’s one that pulls the audience in, even when she is teaching a crew of teenagers how to fraudulently doctor a cheque.
Despite playing a smaller off West End venue, there have been no short cuts when it comes to bringing the world to life and Soutra Gilmour’s set design is impeccable as always. She, and director Michael Longhurst, apparently took inspiration from a Coney Island style fairground with neon lighting lending to this vibe, and an ever present clock (inspired by the Colgate clock in New Jersey) continually reminding us of the passing of time and of Kim’s aging. As she poignantly says to her classmates in one scene, “Getting older is my affliction, getting older is your cure.”
Maria Friedman as Kimberly Levaco in Kimberly Akimbo
For a piece which could be difficult to stage with a wide variety of important locations, Gilmour roots the production in a revolving three storey house, which also transforms into school lockers and libraries, a garage and a skating rink (featuring actual ice skating much to the audience’s delight). We are firmly in the 80s with Game Boys, camcorders (working in harmony with brilliant projections), band t-shirts and a brilliant series of metatheatrically musical references scattered throughout also. It’s a production playing to an audience who love a show, but more so who love the power of a great story.
A story of love and loss, of expectation and reality, of wanting more but settling for less, of taking every opportunity and really living for the moment. As Friedman has said about the show, “[It’s a] remind[er]to live now. We all think the clock is going forever, but Kimberly has this amazing insight into life because she doesn’t have forever, she has now.” It’s heartwarming, life-affirming, laugh-out-loud funny but also bittersweet and hard-hitting – there were already tears rolling down my face by the fourth song, and they didn’t stop as the show went on. Take tissues, take a friend whose shoulder you’re happy to cry on, allow yourself to feel every moment, and leave and call somebody you love.
Kimberly Akimbo runs at Hampstead Theatre until 7th November. For more information, and for tickets, please visit www.hampsteadtheatre.com.
