Lovely review of The Little Lie – F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Music Needs Joy | stage

FOr for decades people have been seeking to rescue Zelda Fitzgerald from her reputation as F. Scott’s crazy, bad wife. She was reshaped as a feminist icon – a woman driven to extremes, even imprisoned, by a society and a husband who could not handle her creativity. Some have also attempted to depict Fitzgerald’s melodramatic marriage on stage (such as in Craig Revel Horwood’s 2004 Beautiful and Damned in the West End), but with limited success. This latest effort, with music and lyrics by actress Hannah Curnow, is directed by Michael Greif, the man behind the original Broadway productions of Rent and Dear Evan Hansen.

It’s no surprise that he’s assembled a cast that can pour plenty of vocal courage into Cornish’s largely poppy score. We follow the ancient path of the Fitzgeralds’ rise and fall from Jazz Age fame through the lens of their daughter Scottie as she wanders through their archives (book lovers will agonize over Shanku Choudhury’s collection of shelves and stacks). The setting is little explored like the rest of the show’s ideas – why is Scotty there in the first place? — but it allows for a poignant performance from Lauren Ward, as she interacts with her parents at different ages.

Between Mona Mansour’s book and Curnow’s trite, repetitive lyrics (“Trust is a funny thing / You’ll have it one day and then it’s gone”) we never get more than a superficial sketch of the central couple. There is no sense here why they were so dazzled, or so mysteriously disturbed. David Hunter brings out F Scott’s mix of arrogance and insecurity, while Amy Parker – who replaced Corneau on opening night – brings out Zelda’s emotions when a wall of lights suddenly explodes behind her, and there’s some tender romance in their encounter in Alabama at One Night in July.

But there are no surviving melodies from the many popular songs, and there is no sense of spark or wit between these two wordsmiths clashing beyond one waspish argument on the Riviera. The series consistently ignores Zelda’s mental health issues for the sake of its surprising climax and damnation of patriarchy. However, there’s not long to wait for the next Zelda musical – The Fitzgeralds of St Paul is scheduled to be released in New York this spring.