Piaf at the Watermill Theatre – review

Watching and listening rapt as the diminutive figure of Audrey Brisson delivers the unmistakably plangent notes sung by the so-called “Little Sparrow”, it’s almost as if we are in the presence of the French songstress par excellence herself. With a cast of ten multi-talented actor-musicians, including onstage musical director Jon Trenchard, the production feels completely immersive. We are transported to the nightclubs and theatres in Paris (and later in the USA), as Édith Piaf enthralled audiences… even those filled with Nazis in wartime France.

Director Kimberley Sykes’ use of much of the auditorium – including the stalls aisles for those performers playing brass – makes the production feel intimate, as onstage keyboards and double bass play their parts to wrap the audience in the story of Piaf’s life, her loves and friendships. Prominent among these is Tzarina-Nassor’s Taine, a fellow denizen of the streets of Paris, out to make a living by any means. The alacrity with which Brisson, in particular, leaps to fold her body around the men in her life for exuberant sexual encounters is daring – almost endearing. It is only later, as Piaf’s health, both physical and mental, deteriorates that the apparent joie de vivre dissolves into unpredictable (and almost violent) episodes. Her decline is accelerated by the murder of her mentor, Louis Leplée, and her arrest under suspicion of being involved. She is declared innocent, but the mental turmoil persists, and she suffers illness and physical damage too.

Piaf’s relationship with her extraordinarily supportive assistant Madeleine saves her time and again, delivering vital reassurance and consolation. Swedish actor Signe Larsson doubles this role with a glorious Marlene Dietrich. Clad in an elegant figure-hugging white gown, she embraces the double bass she plays with such delicacy that it seems to become part of her.

Brisson’s tiny stature is emphasised and enhanced by the mainly black and floaty costumes she wears to advantage, thanks to design studio Good Teeth (founded by Victoria Smart and James Perkins). Their staging is simple and uncluttered, a scarlet and golden setting in which actors, furniture and musical instruments can freely move and be moved.

Piaf married twice, and it is her second husband Theo, empathetically embodied here by Oliver Nazareth Aston, another Watermill returnee, who tried in vain to save her at the end of her short life, when morphine and alcohol addiction proved fatal.

In total, 21 songs from the famed singer’s repertoire – from “Milord” and “La Vie en Rose” to “Non, Je ne Regrette Rien” – are rendered so magically here. She was only 47 when she died in 1963, but thanks to these glorious numbers, a vital part of this show’s attraction, she lives on.