Review by Sam Waite
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Early in 2013, punk pioneer Wilko Johnson announced that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and advised he had less than a year to live. Recording a final album and setting out on a farewell tour, his determination to live life to the fullest in the brief time allotted would be cosmically rewarded the next year, when a re-assessment led to a new announcement: Wilko was now cancer-free. Passing nearly a decade later, one of his final acts was giving is blessing to Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ‘n’ Roll, Johnathan Maitland’s tribute-cum-bio-play now open at the Southwark Playhouse.
We meet a young John Wilkinson, self-proclaimed owner of the world’s most boring name, as a teenage boy on the night he meets Irene, his eventual wife. Impressing her with his amateur band, Wilko goes on to pursue academia both as a student and a teacher, before clashing ideals lead him to explore music full-time, co-creating pioneering punk group Dr Feelgood. Love and Death and Rock ‘n’ Roll’s first act tackles his life and career pre-diagnosis, while the second is more singular in its focus on a man’s real-time grief and acceptance of what cannot be changed.
Narrated by its protagonist as a part-monologue, part-biography and part-history lesson, Maitland’s script does have a habit of skimming only the surface of Wilko’s colourful life and career. Irene calls out his selfishness when he falls for a groupie he’s sleeping with, and his bandmates concur when he insists that they perform a new song about the sordid situation – Wilko’s shortcomings are thrown out for the audience to see clearly, before being brushed aside when the next time-jump rockets us forward in his adventures. There is some genuine emotional poignancy, particularly where repeated encounters with cancer give him pause for thought, and some believable, familiar dynamics in Maitland’s script, but it’s a shame how quickly everything flicks by without any real consequence.
Fronted by Johnson Willis, the cast of five throw themselves gamely into the performance. Jon House, Georgina Field and David John appear as the other members of Dr Feelgood, as well as bouncing between seemingly endless bit parts and cameos throughout the evening – Field in particular looks right at home pacing to and fro on Sparko’s bass, a sixth Runaway with her hair flying around her pouting face. Everyone is skilled in their shifting roles, though only House is given much time to truly expand on any of the characters he plays. Georgina Fairbanks is glorious as Irene, giving enough charm to their courtship and weight to their growing tensions to form a real impact through the vignettes making up their tragic love story.
Among the more successful elements of Maitland’s script is the humour, a shattering of the fourth wall allowing the audience to be brought directly into the story, and for the admittedly one-sided version of Wilko’s life to be treated as such. He’s the one telling the story after all, so as frustrating as moments darting past his shortcomings can be, it’s entirely understandable why he wouldn’t want to linger. Heartbreaking when the second act calls for it but undeniably electric as this brash, uninhibited rocker, Johnson Willis is a great fit for Maitland’s writing, and would stand out from the pack even without having a significantly bulkier part to perform.
Love and Death and Rock ‘n’ Roll’s director, Dugald Bruce Lockhart, has a solid command of the show’s tone, willing to lean into the comedy but also to lock into the drama. There are no clever tricks or attempts to distract the audience from transitions or costume changes, with Lockhart’s production fully accepting the home-made, impromptu tone suggested by Maitland’s text. Nicolai Hart-Hansen’s design adds nicely to this, music equipment set up surrounded by band posters and album covers, rugs littering the floor to dampen the sound. A garage-band rehearsal space within the playhouse’s Large space, the idea of an intimate, invite-only gig from Wilko himself is absolutely suggested. The ethereal, striking moments of lighting from James Stokes momentarily shatter this, creating an otherworldly sense that helps greatly in reinforcing the show’s themes of accepting what cannot be changed, and living life to the fullest.
Love and Death and Rock ‘n’ Roll works beautifully as a reminder of Wilko’s legacy, if only occasionally as well as a retelling of his life story. While I totally understand the impulse to keep things vague, to not delve too deep into anything too dark or uncomfortable, it did feel like at times like we were being walked through events rather than their emotional impacts. A play with music is a tricky balance, and unfortunately Wilko seems to have sacrificed opportunities to dig deeper in favour of rocking out. That being said, when the actor-musos took to their instruments, the crowd certainly didn’t seem to mind.
Wilko: Life and Death and Rock ‘n’ Roll plays at Southwark Playhouse Borough until April 19th
For tickets and information visit https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/wilko/