An incredibly powerful and reflective piece of theatre.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Evita demands to be watched. Absorbed. Reflected on. It’s as complex and complicated as Eva Perón herself. It’s a conflicting legacy and it is a masterpiece of music, dance and storytelling.

This Christmas, the ‘Made at Curve’ production is the iconic musical of Evita but not as you might recognise it. It’s a contemporary, stripped back revival with Eva being envisioned as a modern day influencer come socialite with heavy political stances.

Personally, Evita isn’t my favourite musical. I find it a tough watch. But, there’s no denying that the true story of Eva, and the musical, is incredibly fascinating – and I particularly love how Che (Tyrone Huntley) is the narrator, and plays it with a sense of cool and slickness, and reminds us that Eva IS a complex woman.

I think the musical score is possibly the most mature work from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and I don’t think there’s a person out here who doesn’t know ‘Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina’. But, Martha Kirby, as Eva, leads and delivers these iconic classics with absolute ease and perfection. She is a class act.

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I had the privilege of hearing Martha sing a preview earlier this year, but seeing her perform it on stage was stunning. You can click the embedded video above to hear a snippet. Martha is truly exquisite casting.

The choreography. The vocals. The use of the space. They are sensational highs.

This is a stripped back version of Evita, in particular staging which does leave a lot of emphasis and power to the lyrics and score. There were mixed bag reactions from audience members near to me, with some stating they “nearly fell sleep” whilst others gleaming at how “sensational” it is. Evita really does divide opinion, and I think it’s such an iconic show that everybody who appreciates theatre should see and form their own views.

I do find Evita to be a quite slow watch, but Curve’s revival was intriguing. Though, the following around of the camera and the regular projection on screen was a little minimising of the atmosphere and I did find distracting. Many times, I found myself eager to find out if it was pre-recorded, or it was live – and I’m not sure which one would’ve been most impressive. I did have to catch myself to stay focused on the storyline.

Evita isn’t a festive delight for christmas (and if you do want festive family fun then check out The Owl Who Came For Christmas in the studio). But it is an incredibly powerful and reflective piece of theatre.

Curve Theatre, Leicester
📆 Jan 13th 2024