Assassins at Chichester Festival Theatre: 'Excellent, funny, disturbing five-star stuff' | Review

Sondheim is not, necessarily, an easy watch and this is not entry-level Sondheim – it’s challenging on many levels – but it’s Theatre with a capital ‘T’.

The piece is uber-American and a working knowledge of American presidents and those who attempted or succeeded in assassinating them would add to an audience’s enjoyment – but Polly Findlay’s new production for Chichester has much to recommend it even without such background.

Sondheim (and writing partner John Weidman)’s conceit is a group of men and women, all of whom have desired the death of one American president or other, come together to tell their stories and – ultimately – to preserve the memory of their actions by invoking just one more assassination.

NOW READ: Repair works commence on The Kings Theatre

The cast are uniformly excellent, with standout work from Amy Booth-Steel as accident-prone Sara Jane Moore, Harry Hepple as a camp Charles Guiteau, Nick Holder as a foul-mouthed Sam Byck and Danny Mac as suave, persuasive, dangerous John Wilkes Booth, ostensible leader of the group of killers.

Musically the show is classic Sondheim – all disjointed rhythm and multi-layered singing – but that’s the kind of Sondheim that works for me. The vocals wrap you up in fire and ice – in typical American fashion the women stay low while the men soar through the high-note clouds – and a beautiful sound it is, too.

Weidman’s script successfully navigates through humour (particularly from Booth-Steel as Moore) to anger (breathtaking, dangerous work from Holder) and to the eerie, as Mac’s John Wilkes Booth attempts to seduce an innocent Lee Harvey Oswald into pointing a gun out of a school-book depository one November afternoon in 1963.

I’m not entirely certain why half of the orchestra were half-hidden onstage, their presence being a distraction, but that’s small-fry.

This is excellent, funny, disturbing five-star stuff.

Until June 24. For tickets go to cft.org.uk.