Until I Wake Up

Review of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Marlborough theatre, Brighton (Edinburgh preview).


Hedwig and the Angry Inch started as an off-Broadway play in 1998. It has since been revived many times, made into a film in 2001, and become a cult favourite. The show is presented under the pretext of a gig by East German transsexual Hedwig and her band the Angry Inch. Hedwig tells her life story with each song representing a different stage in her life. And she doesn’t hide her bitterness about the musical success of ex-boyfriend Tommy Gnosis, who we are told is also playing a gig tonight in the same city but in a massive arena.


In this production Hedwig is played by a woman, which works well with the queer genderfuck theme. However she can’t compare to the original Hedwig, John Cameron Mitchell. She doesn’t display the over-compensatory bravado and camp confidence that the character of Hedwig has. I suspect the actress is a singer without much acting experience and without a natural comic skill, she stumbles over her words on occasion and some of the jokes fall flat due to the delivery. She just doesn’t have the acting chops to carry off what is essentially a one man/woman show.


The songs were much better than the banter and story-telling in between. For a start, the score is superb. Songs like The Origin of Love and Wig in a Box can only ever be fantastic and the band and singers were all very talented. The cast made the best of the tiny stage they had to work with which was barely big enough for the band, and the use of the fire exit was inspired. But over all, this was just a mediocre production of an excellent play. Compared to the film this was a bit flat and didn’t induce the same emotional extremes.


I did have a good night out, but I can’t help but feel I would have enjoyed watching the film on DVD even more. That option would at least have meant I avoided the annoying ‘fans’ in the front row who for some reason decided to show their appreciation by repeatedly shouting things out and speaking over Hedwig. To her credit she shot them down like a pro, wasn’t flustered, and stayed in character while she was doing it. After the show an annoyed audience member spoke to these people, quite rightly pointing out that their behaviour had been out of order. Bizarrely, one of them replied “Well I’m sorry but.... [long pause while he tries to think of an excuse] clearly you’re old and don’t understand. And should be in bed.”


Best of luck to the team for their Edinburgh fringe run, starting next week.