★★★★
Ok. I admit it. I’m an Evan Hansen sympathiser.
Photo by Marc Brenner
And even more so in the first non-replica production touring the UK. Adam Penford has taken the much-loved piece and made everything feel a bit more intimate, a bit warmer, and combined with the number of years that have passed since its premiere, it feels all the more likely. An awkward teen finds himself caught in a web of lies following the suicide of one his classmates - and he inadvertently becomes part of his family, and the poster boy for remembrance in his high school.
It’s helped in part by the cast, too. Ryan Kopel is gentle and kind as the title character. It’s an all encompassing performance - his body tense but his voice freeing. It’s a peek into the inner workings of an awkward teen who’s people-pleasing has devastating consequence.
He blends into a blue video screen (designed by Ravi Deepres and costumed by Morgan Large), invisible to his peers who walk around him in Carrie-Anne Ingrouille's contemporary choreography. But as time passes he begins to look more like the Murphy family - wearing autumnal reds and oranges, a small but effective change from the original.
Beside him as Zoe is a beautiful Lauren Conroy, who is devastatingly beautiful in the crystalline “Requiem” as she cries out grieving her brother with whom she shared a complicated relationship. The pair fit together lovely, discovering new things about themselves.
Tom Dickerson’s sex-obsessed Jared is deadpan and hysterically funny providing light relief from his disco-lit gaming chair. We’re never sure if Evan is speaking directly with his peers or via online messaging as they address the audience, and spotlights signify their exit from the conversation. Connor (an endearing Killian Thomas Lefevre) is conjured from beyond the grave to give a puppet-like performance of early showstopper “Sincerely, Me!” But his omni-presence guiding Evan is imagined by Penford as awoken conscience, it’s impossible not to have wanted to known more about this troubled teen who we learn fragments about.
This is effective in particular with Alana (Vivian Panka), a razor focussed busy-body determined for “The Connor Project” to succeed. The projection screens conjure her plans to build an orchard - we see blue sky and autumn leaves and social feeds as posts go viral during the gospel “You Will Be Found”. When the ensemble come together for these big numbers it feels like this Dear Evan Hansen is on the cusp of something different, something more, but their presence is disappointingly fleeting - instead they move set pieces (lockers and work desks), blurred by a glasshouse-like sliding door that adds texture but little else.
And while the kids provide the laughs, it’s the adults who provide the lessons. They’re responsible for the tearjerkers for the second half as the pace slows and the downfall is inevitable. As Evan’s mum Alice Fearn rocks “Good for You” that feels ramped up to anthem of heights before breaking hearts with her “So Big, So Small”, while Richard Hurst's “To Break in a Glove” is impactful as a lost moment with his son.
Words fail to describe how good it feels to have Evan Hansen back. It’s a very special show with a cast breathing new life into the modern classic.
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