White Rose: The Musical, Marylebone Theatre Review
Written by Cathie for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
World War II isn’t the first era which necessarily lends itself to being a good topic for a musical but recent productions have attempted to prove otherwise. Their first musical production premiere at the Marylebone Theatre is White Rose The Musical. It is very loosely based on the true life story of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany, where a group of students led by Hans and Sophie Scholl dared to write and distribute anti-Hitler leaflets around Munich during the height of the war and when caught faced their execution with bravery and conviction. Set from 1942 to 1943 we see the group's creation, doubts, fears, dangers and decisions, along with their eventual downfall.
The cast as a whole worked very hard together to harmonise and give a heartfelt performance. Collette Guitart gave Sophie wisdom and poise far greater than her youth and was a believable sister to Tobias Turley as Hans Scholl. His strong voice and powerful ballad were fabulous to watch and he and Guitart form a sympathetic centre upon which the story spins. Will Graf and Danny Whelan also worked well in supporting roles to add passion, fear and vulnerability to the storyline as fellow members of the White Rose. Kurt Huber as the regretful professor and his dynamic with Frederick Fische who is the Gestapo officer and former friend of the Scholls was interesting and the doomed romance showed another way in which war steals the future from individuals. Danny Collins and Thomas Sutcliffe added urgency in their multiple roles and worked well to support the main characters in differing forms. Finally, Charlie Robbie as Lila also provided some of the grounding of the show and provided strong vocals to support the others. It was disheartening that the main cast were on stage 90% of the time and the large ensemble did not have as much time to shine as they should.
The set (Justin Williams) was a sparse war torn landscape with decaying concrete walls bracketing the stage. This worked really well for showing the brutal world that these students were living in and how destructive environments can propel others into decisions they would not be pushed into in peacetime. An especially vivid detail was the raised dais at the back of the stage where Nazi officers are often showcased looming over the White Rose students. This was brilliant in subtly symbolising the sheer power and suppression the third Reich was pushing onto its populace and how small they were in their fight for justice and freedom.
This production had an off-Broadway run last year of 90 minutes straight running time and this current production has a running time of 2 hours, with the change of an interval and an extra 30 minutes added to the running time. Although this gives some attempted depth into the dangers the characters face the tension building would have been better served with a straight through running time, to better maintain and build the tension the production seeks to keep throughout.
Although the cast is fabulous and the set is dynamic, the production’s biggest failure is the plot. This show feels rather like a diamond in the rough and still in the workshop stage, with lots of great ideas and a fair amount of promise but so unsure of how it wants to deliver the themes and message that it gets lost in translation between the stage and audience. This important story which deserves to be told well, feels over simplified and too much focus is on the characterisation rather than the actual plot which lessens the impact of the eventual torture and execution of these resistance fighters. Natalie Brice’s songs were interesting but rather numerous and although lovely to listen to did not always propel the plot forwards or character explore as powerfully as they could. The tone was also rather more upbeat than I was expecting which slightly contrasted with the messages being conveyed. With some reworking and fine tuning of the plot, I could see this story really shine in future and I have hopes for future productions of this show.
Despite these drawbacks, this show is an important reminder of the power of individual voices to fight back against authoritarianism, jingoistic lies and erosion of basic rights and necessities. These reminders are needed to bring hope and encourage us all to keep fighting to make our world a better place by seeking freedom, peace and unity with our fellow humans instead of sinking into fear, apathy or hatred. If you enjoy stories of wartime courage, staying true to one’s convictions and morals no matter what, seeing reality through clever veils of propaganda, the power of purposeful words and remembering the lessons of the past so that they will not be repeated then this is the show for you.
At Marylebone Theatre until 14th April 2025
★★★
