'The Frogs' review — Kevin McHale leads a wild and gleefully absurd production of Sondheim's rarely performed musical

Read our review of musical comedy The Frogs, directed by Georgie Rankcom, now in performances at Southwark Playhouse to 28 June.

Now, here’s an unusual musical occurrence. Just as his final musical, Here We Are, makes its UK debut down the road at the National Theatre, Stephen Sondheim’s rarely performed take on Aristophanes’ comedy The Frogs comes leaping and croaking into Southwark Playhouse. Originally adapted by Burt Shevelove and performed in a swimming pool in 1974, the show was developed into a full-length production by Nathan Lane in 2004. That version is what we see here, directed by Georgie Rankcom with wild and gleeful absurdity.

“The time is the present, and the place is Ancient Greece,” we’re informed in the show’s early moments. The result of this paradoxical setting is that the show attempts to stick closely to Aristophanes’ framework while making knowing nods to the current time. The titular frogs, whom Dionysos (a steady, unfaltering Dan Buckley) so fears, are described as a group who “don’t like change” and “want everyone to think the same.”

Their staunch conformity and Earth’s other general horrors can only be battled, Dionysos believes, by the power of art. So off he goes, with his servant Xanthias (Kevin McHale), on a journey to Hades to rescue his favourite playwright, George Bernard Shaw, to save the day. The echoes of contemporary political discourse are loud and clear; at the core of The Frogs is a tension between Dionysos’s desire for societal reform and the frogs’ complete disgust for new ideas. The question of whether art can challenge entrenched beliefs still rings true today.

And certainly, it is a jolly expedition. On the way, the unlikely double act encounter a super-strong Herakles, a weed-smoking boatman (a scene-stealing Carl Patrick) and masses of amphibians dressed in fluorescent lycra, goggles and hula skirts. Sondheim’s music is unmistakable — with the early song, "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience", overflowing with his usual quick wit and playfulness. But it is the sentimental anthem "Ariadne", sung with tender conviction by Buckley, that sends the room into breathlessness.

McHale is a lovable companion, too. Channelling elements of his Glee character, Artie, he raises his eyebrows at the audience and sings tunefully with a mischievous glint in his eye. It’s a shame we don’t see more of him as he sends ripples of laughter around the crowd with each appearance. The rest of the chorus makes the world of The Frogs full and bright, with Victoria Scone’s Pluto, in particular, bringing tongue-in-cheek humour and vivacity to every scene.

So, Rankcom’s ever-surprising production is basically as good as The Frogs can get; it is topical and lighthearted, with no weak link. Still, there is a reason why the show remains one of Sondheim’s lesser-known works. For all its eccentric charm and spark, it remains a curious, slow-moving beast. The final showdown between Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw is expanded to an unnecessary length. The entire voyage to the Underworld — although enjoyable — loses its sense of purpose as time ticks on by. The frogs themselves could grow into a regular, compelling chorus, adding a greater sense of trepidation to each step of Dionysos’s task.

But for Sondheim’s fans and fanatics, this is not one to miss. Rankcom has tamed this slippery creature of a musical into something distinctly watchable, with flashes of real mischief, magic and the occasional ribbit.

The Frogs is at Southwark Playhouse to 28 June.

Photo credit: The Frogs (Photos by Pamela Raith)