Album Review: The Stationmaster: The Complete Work (Original Cast Recording)

Review by Sam Waite

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Musical theatre is no stranger to the concept album – from Evita to American Idiot, from Standing at The Sky’s Edge to Hadestown, the focus on themes and sometimes on direct storytelling offers an easy transition to the stage. The Stationmaster, a new musical drama, seems to be following the route carved out by Andrew Lloyd Webber with Evita, releasing a cast recording first and allowing momentum to build from the strength of the material before pivoting this success to a full-scale production. The question, therefore, is whether this new British musical will find that same longstanding success.

Thomas Price, the titular stationmaster, is a beloved fixture of the close-knit Lake District community, never forgetting to change a signal and always on hand for a good chat and to judge the baking at a local fete. The audience, however, soon see another side to this “pillar of the community” when a moment of distraction owing to his affair with a local woman means that just one signal does go missed, something his mistress helps to cover up when at least 12 people are declared dead in a collision. Complicating matters further, his wife saw the whole thing –both his adultery and his failure to perform his duties.

Inspired by Horváth’s Judgement Day, this is the sort of morality tale where lies deepen, crimes worsen, and a small spark of deceit becomes a vicious blaze within our would-be hero. Nigel Richards gives an amiable, neighbourly quality to Thomas, in both spoken and sung sections of the recording – it’s entirely easy to believe that he wants to do right, and frighteningly jarring when he switches to a more commanding, threatening presence towards the finale. Two versions of The Stationmaster have been produced, one a cast recording with the music recorded by a cast of commendable actors, while we were kindly given access to The Complete Work, in which the entire text has been recorded in episodic fashion.

The songs themselves are strong, ranging from scenes which have a greater impact and pace when set to music, to soaring ensemble numbers that would be overwhelming as merely a cluster of shouting voices, to more tender and intimate moments between only two or three characters. Written by Tim Connor, the songs manage the impressive feat of finding running themes and motifs without becoming too repetitive, while also keeping a consistency in both tone and sound. Rather than a musical that just happens to be set in a town, the aesthetic similarities establish early on that in this musical, this is what the town of Kirby sounds like.

Essentially a musical audio drama, The Complete Collection proves incredibly effective, gripping enough that my plan to listen to each of its four episodes over 24 hours or so were quickly abandoned in favour of a full listen across one evening. With the entire libretto recorded, there’s a real sense of who the cast of characters are, and plenty of opportunity to contextualise the songs. Beginning with a whistle, grounding us immediately in a story set in and around a station, the first number briskly sets the scene – “The 6:59” introduces both the simplicity and the quietness of Tom’s world, with the 6:59 passing and all being calm until the 8:04, as well as introducing the idea of train schedules and tracks as metaphors for the characters’ own journeys.

The strong ensemble cast are then introduced on their ode to Tom, “Pillar of The Community”, effectively introducing the distraught wife, the nosy well-to-do neighbour, the local flirt, her ailing father, and the happy-to-help young man. Being the first number to introduce the townsfolk, this is also the first chance to appreciate the sound design from Joe and Nikki Davison. Their work seems to surround the listener, as if we have been pulled into the local fete, surrounded by locals. It’s an impressive effect, which also helps to reinforce the quieter, more tender moments where only Tom and Anna, or else Tom and his unhappy wife Catherine, are alone and sharing a secretive moment. That same balance exists in Tom Connor’s music and lyrics, with a grandness and sense of scale given to the moments where a crowd has gathered and silence seems a distant thing, whereas a more insular moment like “Anna’s Lie” to the police feels moments away from falling entirely silent.

Alongside the rich orchestrations from Drama Desk winner Jason Carr, the voices on display are also strong and characterful, with nary a flat note or a limp reading. Alex Young, as mistress Anna, and Jessica Sherman, the put-upon wife, both give powerful performances, neither leaving any doubt that they love this man or that they are racked with pain over what he has allowed to happen. Meanwhile, a standout performance comes from Nicola Sloane as the ever-present gossip Mrs Deakin, her sickly-sweet vocal choices adding just the right amount of falseness to the character. Alongside the ensemble of villagers, she is tasked with bringing some levity to a largely troubling tale, and does so with genuine and hysterical ease.

A bigger risk in this medium, Susannah Pearse’s script translates nicely on the recording – admittedly some moments do become fully clear only when exposition is added by dialogue, but the emotional journeys and the general plot come across smoothly, and we must remember that the story was most likely written to be seen as well as heard. Likewise, director Emma Kilbey has kept a firm pace, never rushing through the scene work or lingering too long in what will, to some, be simply pauses between the songs they wanted to hear. Her guidance of the performances helps greatly in imagining the physical aspects of the work, while admittedly the success will be down to the distractibility of their audience, and is an essential element of The Complete Work’s success.

THE STATIONMASTER: The Complete Work drops FREE on all major digital platforms, Friday 26 July 2024.

To order a copy of the 2CD limited edition (£15 plus Post and Packing), or to license The Stationmaster for professional or amateur productions, contact the team directly at: timpaniproductions@outlook.com