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This takes gig theatre to a whole new level. Just for One Day celebrates the Live Aid concert of 1985, that extraordinary, mammoth event which raised £150mn towards famine relief for Ethiopia. Even now it is hard to fathom that it happened: a star-studded line-up pulled together in little over a month; a concert that played out for 16 hours across two continents and that was watched, worldwide, by an estimated 1.9bn people.
That it worked was thanks to the galvanising drive and sheer bloody-mindedness of pop star Bob Geldof, but also to the countless backstage crew and even greater number of members of the public who gave and raised money. And it is them that this heartfelt, though flawed, musical from Luke Sheppard (direction), John O’Farrell (book) and Matthew Brind (musical arrangements) seeks to remember, staged like a gig with the band upstage and a terrific young ensemble delivering an Eighties playlist stuffed with bangers.
We meet some of the main players, such as Craige Els’ enjoyable, irascible Geldof, Jack Shalloo’s milder Midge Ure and Joel Montague’s sceptical Harvey Goldsmith. But time goes too to Suzanne, who we see both as a teenage schoolgirl (Hope Kenna) caught up in the fervour and as the older woman (Jack Clune) guiding us through what happened.
It’s a show that looks back partly to look forward and to pose the question: in the face of overwhelming problems what can ordinary people do? The message is voiced in “Heroes”, the David Bowie song that opens the show and that gives it its title: “We can be heroes, just for one day.”
That title also contains difficult questions raised in the piece. How can one day prompt deeper, more lasting change? Might big charity events ease the conscience when what is needed is a fundamental rebalancing of the world? What role does celebrity play? These are urgent issues and the show feels timely: a blast of positivity for audiences confronted daily by grim news and divisive public discourse. (Ten per cent from the ticket sales will go directly to The Band Aid Charitable Trust.)
But as drama it struggles, weighed down by trying to outline the history and emphasise its current relevance. It’s important to bring in the shocking 1984 BBC report from Ethiopia and the Band Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”. But the script is often awkward and heavy with explanation, spelling out points that should just emerge from the story and saddling characters with lines like “It’s time to step up again” or “But how did it really begin?”. Meanwhile, both individuals and issues have little time to acquire any depth or subtlety.
What’s not in doubt is the energy of Sheppard’s staging and Ebony Molina’s choreography, nor the skill of Brind’s musical arrangements, with familiar songs often gorgeously recalibrated to work with the story. The Cars’ “Drive” works as a desolate response to accounts of the famine; The Police’s “Message in a Bottle” turns into an expression of the impotence felt by many in face of disasters.
There’s a standout musical performance from Abiona Omonua as Amara, the aid worker in Ethiopia, and it is moving to see a brilliant young ensemble deliver much-loved songs afresh. Handing on the baton, musically and politically, is what this show is about.
★★★☆☆
To March 30, oldvictheatre.com
