Originally published by L.S. Media

Cast: Ryan O’Donnell, George Maguire, Jack Roth, Rob Kendrick, Sean Croke, Daniel Curtis, Lillie Flynn, Ryan Gage, Kirsty Malone, Brennan Reece, Iris Roberts, Tom Robertson, John Schumacher, Sydney Rae White.

In some critics’ eyes Quadrophenia is the definition of the era of the mod, cool clothes, good music and the spirit of rebellion that had been sadly lost. To others it was time when you saw the rise of the disaffected youth that blighted a generation and the odd sea-side town. From out of this small period came The Who’s Pete Townsend who turned his imagination and past experiences into one of the critically acclaimed albums of the last forty years.

The creative team behind the current tour have worked hard to keep to the idea but have given it a complete fresh outlook with some of the brightest young talent taking the places of some of Britain’s more well known actors who played the parts before on film. For the icon that is Phil Daniels, the part was divided equally with Ryan O’ Donnell as Jimmy the romantic, George Maguire as Jimmy the tough guy, Jack Roth as Jimmy the lunatic and Rob Kendrick as Jimmy the Hypocrite. All four young actors deserve every praise they receive, not just for their portrayal of the troubled youth but also for the vocalisation which had you feeling every bit of pain, humour and desperation they were acting.

To have four actors playing Jimmy in his various schisms, was at first glance a brave decision but a decision that was well worth taking for as was seen on the night, it worked outstandingly. All four actors playing Jimmy worked well together in the almost chaotic but brilliantly crafted sequences. Not only did they work well together, they blended well with the other members of the company and the interaction at the end as all four Jimmy’s confronted all various parts of his past by dealing with the father, the mother, the bell boy (Ace Face) and the girl was a joy to see.

The cast were about as splendid as you can get without betraying the original recording nor the direction of Franc Roddam 1979 cinematic version.

Much should be also said of the band who played out of their skins covering Pete Townsend’s original score. This is not easily done at the best of times by musicians when just playing on stage to an audience, but when you add in the added pressure of being in time to the drama going on below them then what they pulled off was nothing short of magical.

An excellent night of music and theatre.

Ian D. Hall