Take the Fast Train

ADC Theatre, Friday 13th – Saturday 14th January, 7.45pm/2.30pm, £8-12

Directed by Peter Sayer

Written by Patrick Hallett-Morley and Composed by Ed Zanders

[rating: 3/5]

Take the Fast Train is a short, madcap musical composed, devised and performed by Cambridge sixth form students.  As a result, it falls short of the normal musical theatre fare seen on our hallowed ADC stage, but there is a huge amount of talent on show, and most of it in the music.

Ed Zanders, the composer and lyricist, is clearly going places, and not just to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama this September. The lyrics don’t sell him too well and some of the tunes smack a little too carelessly pastiche to wow you.  But every song is packed with fantastic orchestrations and little harmonic surprises which keep the listener riveted.  The musical highlights were when we slowed down, and Zanders packed in the oom-pah for something more delicate: beautiful orchestrations on strings and piano, and a few nice woodwind clusters, supporting inventive, soaring melodies. Kudos too to Zanders’ brilliant direction of the band, which sounded fantastic despite their age, and particular hats off to the excellent drummer.  Sadly, the rest of the play didn’t quite match up to the standard of the music.

The show is the result of a devised process by Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, directed by student Peter Sayer.  I will say this much – if I could have devised something this long, this theatrically rich, and this funny when I was in sixth form – well, let’s just say this sixth form has very high standards.  But it does fall down in many ways.  The madcap, whimsical style they’ve gone for really does translate as a bit monotone.  It’s all primary colours, hammy acting and silly voices, the result of getting lots of funny ‘things’ and plastering them clumsily on a mood board.

The play began as a (sadly unintelligible, due to mic issues) hodge-podge of random characters in vaguely Edwardian gear singing about getting on some train, and wanting things, and random ‘exciting’ tableaus.  Unfortunately the hammy acting meant that every character rolled into the other, and this didn’t really change throughout.  In Act 2, they changed tack completely and it became a murder mystery.  One minute before the end, something big and silly happens rendering all previous action meaningless.

What this show offered was some extremely good music, numerous funny gags, and a few good performances (namely the three main girls).  In the context of sixth form theatre nationwide, this show is an outstanding achievement.  In the context of Cambridge theatre in general – not so much.  But of course the fan club of Hills Road friends and family were in, so the audience was enraptured and, by the end, screaming with applause. Good for them, though I myself am looking forward to some better theatre this term.