The Sound of Music review – charming musical nourishes the soul
Elizabeth Newman’s six-year tenure as Pitlochry’s artistic director has been characterised by a spirit of generosity and an urge to connect. As Mother Abbess says of Maria in The Sound of Music, Newman has a “great capacity to love”.
Which makes it all the more fitting that her parting shot before moving to Sheffield Theatres is a musical that champions civic responsibility. In our dark political times, this is a show that nourishes and redeems.
And if it is goodness you want, look no further than Kirsty Findlay. As Maria, the would-be nun, she is as straightforward as her blue-grey pinafore: direct, practical and pure. This she achieves without being prim or starchy. She radiates sweetness, yes, but she also brings fun and creativity.
It helps, of course, that Findlay can sing. Fronting a large ensemble of actor-musicians led by musical director Richard Reeday, she tackles the Rodgers and Hammerstein classics with warmth and clarity. If you were Captain von Trapp (Ali Watt), you would melt before her too.
Love rival Elsa Schraeder (Hannah Baker) does not stand a chance. Not that she seems especially disappointed; for all its charm, the production skates over some key emotional moments.
With his chiselled military features, Watt remains stiff and formal, but Findlay throws light on to his character’s moral conscience and reveals the heart behind his repression. He accompanies himself on acoustic guitar for an Edelweiss that is sad and resonant.
Elsewhere, songs such as My Favourite Things and Do-Re-Mi are a sugar-coated disguise for a musical with political heft. It shows how compromise clears the way for fascism, how fear ushers in darkness. Here, the set by Ruari Murchison is framed by a pixelated sky of ominous black, while a rotating column of stairs allows for attractive arrangements of the child performers (all top-notch) as well as being a neoclassical podium for a jackbooted Nazi.
Maria’s compulsion to see the best in everyone, to recognise them for the individuals they are, is the opposite of the conformist ideology from which she and the family ultimately escape. As Newman’s swan song, the production’s good heart brings the audience to its feet.
• At Pitlochry Festival theatre until 22 December
