Leeds Musical Theatre Society Has Taken an Original Twist on BBC’S ‘The Traitors’: A Review of New Original Musical ‘A Night At The Roundtable’
There is nothing quite Traitors on TV. So how can one take the powerful force of BBC’s most talked about reality show in years, and reproduce it on stage? Nathan Pocock and LUU Musical Theatre Society had a go.
The notion of a Traitor’s Musical seems a tough idea to tackle. Going in, I found myself wondering if the showcase was creating its own musical numbers for the production, or borrowing musical theatre songs from other productions. A Night at The Roundtable opted for the latter – and it truly paid off.
The playwright’s application of showtune hits to one of British televisions most iconic shows was a stroke of genius, and gave a sense of brain-scratching satisfaction as you went through the motions of understanding what the production was referring to, realising the chosen musical numbers relevance, and becoming suddenly delighted as you saw its adaptation for the Traitors castle. My personal favourites are torn between two faithful rivals ‘Belinda’ (Liv Orme) and ‘Ellie’ (Katie Loan) belting out a rendition of Wicked’s “What is this feeling?” (loathing, un-adult-a-rated loathing) and the singing of Death Becomes Her’s “The Gaze” by ‘Wendy’ a middle aged female traitor contestant (Maisie Knott), referencing a continued pattern of gay Traitor’s watchers fan girling over any sleuthing middle aged woman on twitter each season. Queue Diane Carson from season 2, infamously being referred to throughout twitter as ‘Princess Di’.
At times there was a slight feeling certain numbers had been chosen simply for their likeability and less for their relevant context to the goings-on of the play, which did seem to add a jarring feeling for the show’s momentum. A few songs fell into feeling like ‘filler’ moments – I wasn’t sure how Gypsy’s ‘Rose’s Turn’ kept the storyline moving. At times it did seem the motivation was just making sure the whole cast got a solo. However, as an overall watch, Pocock’s script is incredibly referential and wholly enjoyable for any fan of Traitors. The play featured so many references to the shows greatest hits – such as season 1 Maddie’s infamous; “Faithful, faithful, not sure, traitor” moment, and the culmination of multiple season’s not-arsed, completely clueless, early 20’s, male contestants into one character – ‘Ben’ (Sumayya Ali), induced uproars of laughter as he swaggered about the stage, smizing to the audience and hitting on almost all the female contestants.
One particular aspect of the play that felt almost emotional was how the application of musical theatre melodramatics heightened the already tense viewing sensation of traitors. It emphasised the Traitor’s key themes – trust, betrayal, deceit, and simple human nature. It really made me start to think – is Traitor’s deep?
The penultimate number, ‘Scarlett’ (Eve Yarker) and ‘Adam’s’ (Dan Lodge) rendition of Into the Woods’ ‘No one is alone’ and the subsequent finale, ABBA’s ‘The Winner Takes It All’ both big emotional ballads, did admittedly, move me. It made me think of the BBC show as holding a new, grander meaning. ‘The Traitors’ shows raw human tension – the backstabbing, the accusations, the ganging up. And the constant self-doubt, and questioning. How much can you trust the person next to you? How much can that trust can be manipulated by the right people? It’s a true rollercoaster of emotion each evening at that roundtable, yet the show also offers brazen camaraderie despite this atmosphere. I know I wasn’t the only one who cried when season 4’s Rachel and Stephen kept their pact to each other until the very end, only to go on and win the whole bloody thing. To feel true, blind trust in another human being is the most vulnerable condition we can be in, and that’s what Traitors is really trying to tell us.
An honourable mention has to go to Jenny Fullerton’s Claudia Winkleman. ‘The Traitors’ has definitely catapulted Winkleman to British Icon Hall of Fame history, shaggy fringe and all. Pocock’s script and Fullerton’s performance take this idea and sprint with it – and what develops is that Claudia is a whip-brandishing figure, inducing fear into the Traitor’s contestants. Yes LUU Musical Theatre Society – Mother does Know Best. And Claudia Winkleman is Mother.
Words by Tess Armstrong