F Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda were writers and social butterflies in New York, overspending in a fog of cigarettes and alcohol. Beautiful Little Fool is Hannah Corneau‘s musical about them, now running at the Southwark Playhouse.
Corneau plays Zelda as well [but on press night it was cover Amy Parker] as writing the music and lyrics (Mona Mansour writes the show’s book). David Hunter plays Fitzgerald, with Lauren Ward as their daughter ‘Scottie’, who has outlived both parents at 48 and shares their story through the archive she keeps.
The first thing I ask when faced with a show like this is, ‘why is this a musical?’. What is it about this pair of pre-WWII authors, unstable and neurotic, that makes them relevant to us? It isn’t just because The Great Gatsby enjoyed success in a stage adaptation last year.
F Scott and Zelda stand for the dazzling glamour of the Roaring Twenties, the Prohibition years and the dark side that hides underneath, just out of sight. Their courtship is cautioned by his latent Catholicism and her free spirit; her creative fire overpowered by his fame and success.
The songs in this musical don’t always drive the narrative and are sometimes repeated. We know Zelda is “an Alabama girl”, but what does that add to the story? “Built to Last” suggests short lives; “Call It Love” comments on an unequal partnership.
The character of Scottie is shown reacting to her parents’ story but it is as carefully curated as her archive. Her narrator shows only what she wants to. The books, the boxes, the possessions. In selected scenes we see what Mansour and Corneau deem to be key moments.
Beautiful Little Fool could just as easily have been a play, with more emotional depth and character development. At one point early on, as Zelda joins the band stage right, I thought this would be tough and tense gig theatre as she reclaims her story.
That it doesn’t take this tack is a shame, as Zelda doesn’t feel as passionate as she could be. Nor do we hear anything about her writing other than a sentence or two from her only completed novel, Save Me The Waltz. If she did contribute heavily to her husband’s work, where, how, and why?
There are two other members of the cast (David Austin-Ball and Jasmine Hackett), who stand as additional, transient characters, or chorus. They are also the cover for the other roles.
They often observe from the top deck of the two level set (by Shankho Chaudhuri) – in itself a work of art with books and ephemera, a winding staircase, lamps, and rows of backlights that occasionally conspire to dazzle the audience.
Beautiful Little Fool is one of those shows that doesn’t quite get to the heart of its characters, regardless of the inspiration. F Scott himself is extremely underwritten, and Michael Greif’s direction isn’t quite enough to rectify that.
**.5
Beautiful Little Fool continues at Southwark Playhouse until 28 Feb – tickets here.
Photo credit: Pamela Raith