White Rose

Review by Ryan

⭐⭐

Based on the true story of students in Munich distributing a pamphlet to expose Hitler's lies, this musical has a lot of emotional weight at a particularly poignant time. Unfortunately, White Rose is in dire need of development before it should be considered ready for distribution.

Even an impressive cast couldn't save this new musical as they belt through every single number from start to end. Set during WW2, the choice of rock music with a guitar, drums and electric keyboard set to grand piano was an interesting choice. Particularly when paired with the often incoherent lyrics and jarring phrases. One that's stuck with me for the wrong reasons is a line about the torment and horror of war following a rock guitar strum. The jarring confusion surrounding these songs, the sheer amount of songs and how similar they all sounded begged me to question why this was made into a musical at all.

Aside from the material, the other glaring issue is in the lack of direction. With what feels like actors walking onto stage, delivering lines then being told to walk in a circle while the lights dim and come back again as the primary motif for the entire show. Long pauses, actors looking around for somewhere to sit or awkwardly stand watching a scene, all of these littered each scene with little to no reason.

This takes place on a set designed to look like a war bunker with broken walls and mud despite the majority of the show taking place in a university basement. This confused and basic set was also either not lit enough with actors being stuck in the dark, or too lit with one person being minimised on a fully lit and bare stage.

Some credit does need to be given to the cast, particularly to Collette Guitart, Tobias Turley and Danny Whelan who are all far better performers than what this production gave them the ability to showcase. With some moments that were clearly meant to be emotional, the actor providing a powerful performance but the material being too disjointed that I failed to feel anything at all for them.

Although an important story to tell, this musical isn't the best way to do it.