Review: The Last 5 Years

It’s difficult to slap a generic label onto The Last Five Years. A musical makes it sound too cheerful; tragedy makes it sound too melancholy. This play strikes a happy chord between the two, delivering some real heart-wrenching songs as well as some amusing set pieces.

Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years follows the relationship of rising author Jamie Wellerstein (Nick Barstow) and Cathy Hiatt (Heather Young).Theirs is a whirlwind romance, and whirlwind really is the key here, because the audience sees the story from their two constantly shifting perspectives. Jamie’s perspective is chronological whereas Cathy’s goes back in time, ending with the couple’s first date.

It might seem an impossible task to build chemistry between two people who are at different points in time, but the leading duo managed this very well. The scenes where they are apart are the setting for some hard-hitting moments of poignancy, with Jamie looking forward and Cathy looking back.

Equally, the scenes where they are together and singing in harmony, however brief they may be, are the best parts of the play. The acapella experience of the two leads was very evident – as their hand movements became more unnecessarily dramatic, it did feel as though Out of the Blue might make a cameo appearance.

Credit must also go to the band, which at times stole the show and acted as the third character in the (many) moments of awkward silence as the couple’s relationship deteriorated. The songs which were belted out, a little too loudly at times, were memorable and well performed and the lyrics were in turn tragic and hilarious. The songs’ potential was better exploited as the performance progressed; as the end neared, a simple gesture or raised eyebrow was enough to elicit laughter from the audience.

This musical is a good antidote to any fifth week blues: laugh, maybe cry, certainly don’t take the boy or girl of your dreams to see it, but at least be glad you aren’t stuck in Ohio like Cathy. Go and watch it to find out why.