Marie Skłodowska-Curie is easily one of the most famous women in world history, overcoming division and prejudice to make scientific discoveries which continue to benefit humankind to this day. A new musical, Marie Curie, has its English language premiere at the Charing Cross Theatre, telling the story of this remarkable woman.
Told through the eyes of her daughter (Lucy Young) following Madame Curie’s death, it charts her life as a Polish immigrant, traveling to Paris to be the only woman to study at the Sorbonne, on to marrying Pierre, and winning two Nobel Prizes having discovered both Polonium and Radium.
Perhaps because of the relatively short running time, Marie Curie gallops through these early years, leaving little space for the characters to breathe or develop. Quickly, we’re at the discovery of Radium, focusing more on the initial damage that was done by those who didn’t understand the dangers of the new element.
This is the first time the musical has been performed in English, having originally been written by Seeun Choun and Jongyoon Choi, and performed in cities such as Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka.
The English translation, by Emma Fraser, Tom Ramsay and Ahreumbi Rew seems to work well for the book. The story, though a little formulaic, effectively tells the story of Marie Curie in a straightforward and authentic way. The lyrics don’t feel quite as well thought through, but thankfully this doesn’t detract from the superb musical numbers. You probably won’t go home humming any of the tunes, but in the moment they feel just right.
It’s a very enjoyable production, but it does always feel like it’s missing something, like an experiment where the results aren’t quite conclusive. Ultimately, we don’t learn anything new about Marie Curie, it’s a (very good) history lesson, but little more than that. It touches on the struggles Marie faced in science as a woman, but never offers any hope that things could one day be different.
The lack of character development becomes more pronounced as things go on; the death of Pierre (an excellent Thomas Josling) doesn’t have the emotional impact it should. Marie’s life is often juxtaposed with that of her friend, Anne Kowalska but never digs deeper than the initial physicist vs factory girl trope. It’s a shame, as there’s great potential for the character and Chrissie Bhima’s talents feel under utilised.
Rose Montgomery’s constantly moving set, paired with Matt Powell’s projections of Marie’s handwritten journal entries looks impressive, and makes the small space feel like it’s hosting a much larger musical. Sarah Meadows’ direction keeps Marie Curie moving at a good pace and there’s never any danger that the audience will become bored.
Alisa Davidson is magnificent as Madame Curie, delivering flawless vocals while showing the character as a driven and ambitious woman, striving to overcome prejudice while grappling with an ethical dilemma.
The discovery of Radium was a blessing for humankind, though also proved to be a curse for the workers who first handled it. As a musical Marie Curie brings us a fantastic cast, telling an important story, with a good score, but it fails to go far enough. It’s enjoyable, but doesn’t grasp the opportunities available to it.
