Review: Go! The Musical (Upstairs At The Gatehouse)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️

Venturing further afield from the heart of London will often take you to hidden treasures where new and exciting shows are being produced. One such example is Upstairs At The Gatehouse in Highgate whose programming in the last 9 months alone has included a rare UK production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World. It was their production of brand new musical In Clay that really wowed audiences and critics alike, garnering a number of five star reviews (including one from myself). It is that high bar that makes expectations high for another premiere of a new musical in the premiere staging of Go! The Musical. Could it repeat the success of previous productions at the theatre or would this put a plague upon their impeccable record? Either way, I knew I had to go…

Go! The Musical  is a musical retelling of Exodus. It tells the story of Moses who has rescued the slaves from Pharaoh but finds his mission descending into chaos. While other interpretations of his story end when Moses’ people enjoy freedom, Go! attempts to go one further and shed a light on the lesser told aspects of the story, or “the messy bit of Exodus” as they describe it.

Describing this story as messy feels like a bit of an apt prophecy unfortunately as that is exactly what has happened. There is a lack of coherence and cohesion in the narrative which is unable to find its feet in its staging and find the best ways to convey the story. Attempts to modernise the story feel ill-advised and unclear with moments throughout where I struggled to understand what was going on, despite being already familiar with the story. At times it felt like too many ideas were exploding at once, at others like there hadn’t been enough ideas. The result was an awkward staging that didn’t feel ready to be viewed by the public in this capacity.

The biggest flaw with Go! is the writing itself. While it is essentially a sung-through musical, there is no clear distinction between numbers, with songs starting, stopping and often never-ending. While the book lacks structure, this could have been overlooked had the music and lyrics been stronger. Unfortunately, this was not the case. With musical numbers that failed to prove memorable with sub-par melodies save for ‘Egyptology’ which is only memorable for how annoying and repetitive it was. Repetition is another of the biggest problems this musical has, with lines repeated far too often, feeling like they were place-holders for other lyrics that never got finished. It is the lyrics that are the biggest flaw in this show by far. Rhymes felt lazy in some parts, obvious in others and utterly bizarre in certain moments with lyrics such as “There will be a Moses 24, you are the law” almost making me laugh but for the wrong reason.

There is an argument that this show was intended to be humorous. That does not come across in its tone at all, with no moments that raise a smile, let alone a laugh. A random Margaret Thatcher reference where the line “Pharaoh’s not for turning” is a prime example of the sub-standard writing that fills the show. The direction fares no better with choreography that proves itself to be too busy, unnatural and messy, adding nothing to the show and detracting from the story itself. Meanwhile, the show features some truly strange staging ideas, particularly the inexplicably unsatisfying end of act one which I could only describe as “Moses seasoning his meat”. This is a show whose structure would benefit from being a one-act show, with the usage of an interval only going to highlight its flaws further.

The biggest problem with Go! The Musical is that it doesn’t know what it wants to be. Suffering from an identity crisis, it heavily borrows at times from other shows like Les Miserables, Hamilton and even Jesus Christ Superstar while comparisons to recent Moses-led musical The Prince Of Egypt feels obvious. Having no idea who it is as a show means there is a lack of connection or compassion when it comes to the characters or their journeys, on the moments we are able to follow what is going on. The writers speak in the programme of creative tension during the process of making this show, and that is clear to see in a show that requires much more workshopping if it hopes for a further life.

There are a couple of aspects to Go! that stops this being a complete disaster. Some decent design aspects from Maya Heritage, paired with clever lighting from Daniel Taylor creates a couple of visually pleasing moments in the show. The biggest success is in the cast themselves. Harel Glazer makes the most of an underwritten lead in Moses with an accomplished performance, but it is Alexandra Doar and Ayesha Patel who truly shine in their turns as Pharaoh and Zipporah. With incredible stage presence and stunning vocals, their talents stretch beyond the problematic material, with the remaining five cast members equally impressing. However, the fact their talents are not better utilised further highlights this musical’s severe flaws.

The musical numbers in Go! raise questions such as “Who Am I?”, “Where Am I?” and “Is That It?” – that last question being one thought I shared, sadly. It is this constant use of questions that can be brought back to the show itself which doesn’t know what it wants to be or how it can get there. As someone who loves nothing more than seeing a new musical in its early life with the hope of catching something special, as I experienced with In Clay at the same theatre earlier this year, there was the clear sense that this musical was nowhere near ready to be performed by a paying public. There may be a good musical in Go! somewhere, but this is a case where I would consider going back to the drawing board in the hopes of creating something better than this. I’m not saying this is so irredeemable it needs to stop altogether but, in its current form, it’s certainly not ready to go.

Go! The Musical plays at Upstairs At The Gatehouse until 28th July. Tickets from www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com