The Winston Machine
Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic
WITH the combination of Waldo’s Circus of Magic And Terror in the main house telling the story pf the problems facing a circus touring through Germany as the Nazi Party takes control in 1933, and The Weston Studio hosting a tale of a family through the Second World War to the present day, the Bristol Old Vic is reliving the days when it was still known as the Theatre Royal, Kings Street, and German bombers were destroying many of the buildings around them.
On stage Elinor Crawley, Daniel Miller and Toyin OmariKinch, move in and out of one time span to another, to tell the story of a wartime romance and marriage, interrupted by the fighter pilot husband spending two years as a prisoner of war, to their grand-daughter, trapped in her father’s over-romanticised nostalgic view of wartime Britain, fighting to break out into the 21st century. Singing wartime favourites like Every Time I Say Goodbye in a manner that made the older members of the audience wish she had the opportunity to sing more than just a snippet of other period favourites, Elinor Crawley moved surefootedly from the shy young wartime bride to frustrated modern young women. Starting with Noel Coward-like stylized delivery between 1940’s innocent girl and dashing fighter pilot, Elinor and Toyin Omari-Kinch, move easily into the modern idiom as Toyin’s daydreaming would be pop star lover attempts to pull her mentally and musically into the present time. Standing between them is Daniel Miller’s traditionally entrenched father determined that she will once more be the star vocalist at the annual 1940s weekend. Daniel is also Elinor’s stuffy prospective modern fiancé, and a very creditable Winston Churchill delivering a little of his ‘finest hour,’ speech. At the same time reminding us that while he was an inspirational wartime leader Churchill’s record as a peacetime politician was no means as successful. Not every twist and turn in the plot works – at times you can be scrabbling to keep up with latest move. But none of that diminishes the impact of this fascinating mixture of nostalgia and modern conception of the same period.