Theatre Review: Bonnie & Clyde

Directly from West End theatres to Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, the riveting musical Bonnie & Clyde takes the crowd by storm with this exciting rendition of a well-known true story. This production directed and choreographed by Nick Winston features a multi-talented cast and emphasises key themes of American violence and what it means to be a dreamer.

The eponymous lead Bonnie was beautifully portrayed by Katie Tonkinson who struck the perfect balance between sassy and optimistic in her character. Tonkinson transforms Bonnie into a feisty femme fatale archetype and allows true confidence to shine through in her line delivery to bring feminist independence to further deepen our connection to this protagonist. She is the central role of the cast and has the electric energy to always fill the stage with emotive passion through her strong singing voice and vocal range that supports the rest of her cast in musical numbers.

The eponymous lead Bonnie was beautifully portrayed by Katie Tonkinson who struck the perfect balance between sassy and optimistic in her character.

Philip Witcomb’s set design was creative and clever, making use of multiple sightlines and perspectives to fully transform the stage and recreate the multitude of locations throughout Bonnie & Clyde. For instance, the central bullet-dented wall would open in different directions including being flown down and lowered from above between scenes at the diner. Also, the use of a gauze helped create physical, emotional, and geographical distance between the characters and allowed for a split-stage effect when relevant to the story. A scene that stood out for me was when Clyde was at the hairdressers. The constantly built-up anticipation, momentum and energy until the climax enhanced the musical number ‘You’re Goin’ Back To Jail’. This scene was centred around feminine energy and the power of sisterhood to counterbalance tropes of toxic masculinity and gun violence. The audience was transported to a lively setting that amplified the beauty, fashion, and glorious hairstyles of 1930s America.

Catherine Tyldesley portraying Blanche Barrow was accompanied by Jasmine Beel, Oonagh Cox, and Haha Ichijo who, despite their brevity onstage, each created gripping and lively performances that showcased a heightened sense of solidarity between these female characters. An interesting aspect incorporated into production design was the use of projections. At times they enhanced and exaggerated Witcomb’s set designs and aided with creating a smooth transition between scenes whilst amplifying and signposting key motifs and symbols of the storyline to audience members. For a story originally set in 1930s America it initially felt startling and unsettling that such a modern aspect of technology was being grounded into storytelling practices. However, ultimately it created a neat juxtaposition to help remind audiences of the contemporary relevance of the core themes of the show. It was most successful when projections were used in muted colours because they would blend into the rest of the mise-en-scène more seamlessly instead of creating an unexpected distraction.

Winston’s direction of Bonnie & Clyde strikes the perfect balance of tradition and modernity

Overall, Winston’s direction of Bonnie & Clyde strikes the perfect balance of tradition and modernity. A combination of strong characterisations from talented actors mixed with a cleverly detailed set design make this an all-around strong production that begs the ultimate question of what sacrifices one is willing to make for fame and glory. Bonnie & Clyde is only at the Wolverhampton Grand for a limited time so be sure to grab tickets whilst you still can, this is simply not a production to be missed.