Reader Reviews
20th Century Boy (New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | As a fan off 4+ years i badly wanted to see Bolan given some recognition i saw this show twice and thought it was great, i thought George over did Marc's movements on the opening night but when i went back to see it he had improved. Marc was no angel im sure while on drink and drugs, and they maybe spent too much time on this. The part were Marc and June made love behind a sheet was silly. The way cosmic dancer and teenage dream were used in the play was something else tears were streaming down my face. the end of the show rocked, all in all i had a fantastic time, i really hope it goes to the west end. - Roy | 05 Oct 12 |
| This could be very good, the songs and the story hold together well and the cast is excellent. Led my the amazing George Maguire (Marc). The numbers by the band are when this show is really alive, great talent up there, I am sure many do not even know it's all live. The set and video work is good. Two problems, there is just not enough tension/drama in the script and it is way too long, cut 20 mins I say. It is hard to keep it light with the subject matter but maybe more humour/fun/joy can be found. I think this show will live again but its great to see it started at the New Wolsey. - ipswichfanbase | 15 Sep 11 |
| I saw this show yesterday and I have to say it was very disappointing. Some of the performances were ok but the script is DIRE! The musical numbers are okay but you could easily get the same result from a T.Rextasy gig. The saddest thing is that you can see in the eyes of the cast that they're embarrassed to be doing this. - George | 14 Sep 11 |
| While I take my hat off to the cast for a wonderful musical performance you have to question the very poor script. Cliches and dull language make the interludes between music dull. You could easily cut an hour of the running time. As a tribute concert it works, as a musical it fails and can't see it having a life beyond Ipswich in current form - James | 14 Sep 11 |
| This is a really tough show to review, for so many reasons. As a lover of the music, creativity and artistry of Marc Bolan since my secondary schooldays in 1970 I so wanted to see something that would do the man credit and tell his story, with all the highs and lows, leaving that same frisson that the great man had for so many of us. The show tells the story of Marc Bolan through the eyes of his son Rolan, with heavy influence from his latter partner Gloria Jones (Rolan's mother). The cast make the best of a pretty lacklustre script that is riddled with factual errors and muddled events. In addition to this the show labours under a weight of dialogue and directorial cliches that seem to get worse as it progresses. The second act descends into such a quagmire of misery and negativity that my mind was screaming "oh for god's sake cheer up!!". Yes Marc went through a really bad patch, yes he had problems, but to essentially base the whole show on this aspect does the man a great disservice. He was a star. His circumstances are not comparable with the lives of 'ordinary' people, and that's why he was what he was. The show seems to have angled towards all the negative facets of Bolan's personality and reflected virtually nothing of the great fun, joy and laughter he also embodied. Be aware also of some pretty appalling portrayals of gay people. I found these offensive, with cliches aimed at getting cheap laughs even taking into account that the characters concerned were not the most likeable in real life. George Maguire's portrayal of Marc is spirited but nothing like him - there's no vocal or physical similarity, and when playing the guitar it's really noticeable that he is not playing lead (which was after all Marc's forte!). The rest of the cast did a great job but deserved a better, more accurate and more joyous script than they got. Gary Lloyd's direction is too cliched for my liking - especially with Rolan Bolan's character, played with great conviction by Craig Storrod. For some reason he's been told to do a lot of staring into space above the heads of the audience; this is a really naff effect and indicative of the whole cast direction. It serves to alienate the audience quite unnecessarily. Marc's character rarely smiles in the show and at times looks like he had a bad time of the whole experience. This needs addressing as it's totally wrong and misrepresents Marc's great love of life. That being said, the musicianship of the cast is truly magnificent. The band is as tight as gnats chuff! Full marks for that. Exciting and vibrant song performances really make the show and help make up for the script howlers. Most notable for me was Hugo Degenhardt's fantastic drumming and Greg Barnett's lead guitar playing. The show's promotion and programme is terrific. The sets and art design simple and effective. The cast deserve a good run with this and good audiences. If this show is to successfully transfer to the West End then it needs to address it's homophobic elements, correct the vocal direction for Marc (it's too harsh and yobby at the moment) and buck up the second act to make it less depressing and cliched. I sincerely wish the production well though - go see it and see what you think! The cast deserve your support! There are the makings of something really special here. - Telegram Sam | 11 Sep 11 |
