Bonnie and Clyde

Wales Millennium Centre

Cardiff

"Another relaxing night of theatre" a man in the crowd remarked, following the unannounced volley of gunfire and flashing white lights that set the show off .

The story of Bonnie and Clyde should be a familiar one to all, just by name alone. It tells a classic tale of dreams, plans, love and loss at a time when happiness and fulfilment was hard to come by, 1930s USA.

The show was brilliantly acted. As always there were a few that I feel deserve special mention, namely the eponymous two: Katie Tonkinson (Bonnie Parker) and Alex James-Hatton (Clyde Barrow). Two more that stood out were Sam Ferriday (Buck Barrow) for his convincing role as Clyde’s older brother-‘till-the-end, quite literally, and Jaz Ellington (Preacher) for having the best singing voice in this production, hands down. Cast members had great chemistry with each other and it was clear they enjoyed bringing these characters, most of them real people, back to life.

I would say ‘back to life’ is what Bonnie and Clyde wanted to be after they met their end, but given the context of the show they seemed quite happy with how it turned out. Afterall, they both realised their dream of being famous/remembered. Plus if they hadn’t died, the pacing and well-roundedness of the story would be way off. So it was probably for the best.

The stage design left a little to be desired, but it didn’t detract from the show. I liked the use of image projection throughout, and the lights were on point bar one minor spotlight lag, but the stage did seem barren of props a lot of the time. Though by design it may have been, because it put the focus on the characters and music.

Special mention to the band, always the driving force of any production.

I very much enjoyed Bonnie and Clyde at the Wales Millennium Centre and I would highly recommend seeing it yourself. Just prepare yourself for those gunshots at the start.

Ollie Barnes