'Kimberly Akimbo' review — Maria Friedman leads a superb production of this quirky, life-affirming musical

Read our review of David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori’s Kimberly Akimbo, now in performances at Hampstead Theatre to 7 November.

Summary

• Musical Kimberly Akimbo has its UK premiere at Hampstead Theatre
• The story centres on a teenager with a rare genetic disorder
• Maria Friedman is superb as the open-hearted Kimberly
• There are also fantastic performances from Alice Fearn and Gilli Jones

What an utterly charming gem this is. David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori’s 2021 musical Kimberly Akimbo, adapted from the former’s play, had an acclaimed run on Broadway and bagged five Tony Awards. But it’s best approached as a resolutely quirky, filthily funny show that sneaks up and lodges itself in your heart.

It’s found the ideal home for its UK premiere in the intimate Hampstead Theatre, directed by Michael Longhurst, who previously helmed Tesori’s phenomenal Caroline, or Change. He has a great feel for this idiosyncratic, indie movie-esque work, which, with total assurance, turns on a dime from hilarious to devastating.

Our setting is a backwater town in New Jersey in 1999 (cue period signifiers like a Buffy sticker on a high school locker), and our unusual protagonist is Kimberly Levaco, a 16-year-old who suffers from a rare genetic condition that causes her to age four and a half times faster, and radically shortens her life expectancy.

Kimberly also has an absurdly comic dysfunctional family: mom Pattie is a narcissist and hypochondriac, dad Buddy an unreliable drunk, and aunt Debra a fraudster. Her condition makes her the ultimate outsider at school, but she begins to connect with other misfit kids: the endearingly eccentric Seth and the awkward show choir, who, in an unrequited love square, each fancy the wrong person (two of whom are closeted).

It’s fairly light on plot, other than the teenagers getting roped into Debra’s harebrained moneymaking scheme. But this very specific world is built with immense care, and that focus pays off: a single hurtful comment, like pregnant Pattie saying of her unborn baby “I want this one to be perfect”, hits like a thunderbolt.

That’s partly due to a superb cast, led by Maria Friedman as Kimberly. She doesn’t adopt any exaggerated mannerisms yet fully convinces as a teenager thanks to her sweet singing voice and lovely open-heartedness, which makes you long to protect her. But she also robustly charts Kimberly’s journey from a caretaking kid who grew up too fast in more ways than one (she knows to bring a thermos of coffee to sober up her dad) to an independent young woman determined to live her life as fully as she can, while she can.

Peter Hannah and Niamh Perry are fantastic as Kimberly’s feckless parents, nailing set-pieces like a manic car journey or Pattie recording video messages for her baby, face looming into the camera. But, via the empathetic writing, we understand that they too have lost youths and thwarted dreams.

Gilli Jones gives a gorgeous performance as nerdy Seth, who loves anagrams, Tolkein, and, in a great sight gag, is constantly dwarfed by his giant tuba case, but whose unusual perspective means he sees Kimberly differently – to her delight. Alice Fearn, meanwhile, has a ball as the outrageously sleazy Debra, who blows into the show like a tornado. She gets the best number too, the riotous “Better” (backed up, naturally, by the show choir), though Tesori’s score also features wistful beauties like “Make A Wish” and “Father Time”.

Soutra Gilmour’s ambitious revolving set has the effective motif of a ticking clock, alongside everything from a skating rink with a pink neon sign to a multi-level house. It’s an impressive visual feat though occasionally overwhelms the performers. Still, you have to applaud the originality and loving craft of Kimberly Akimbo, which, for all its kookiness, turns out to be life-affirming in the most wonderfully universal way.

Kimberly Akimbo is at Hampstead Theatre to 7 November. Book Kimberly Akimbo tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Kimberly Akimbo (Photos by Marc Brenner)