It is funny that I walk the little pathway between Embankment and Charing Cross tube stations several times weekly, yet have never known until now of the little jewel that is Charing Cross Theatre. The impression the auditorium gives is of a cosy halfway house between an intimate fringe venue and a full-scale West End theatre, the perfect setting, might I add, in which to present a new musical.

I hold an opinion on new musicals to which this show very much conforms. The stalwarts of the West End represent a cross-section of the classic themes of love, war, comedy and fantasy, such that these themes have been all but exhausted, resulting in a number of pale imitations having fallen by the wayside over the years. The structure of musicals  nowadays seems to favour a vignette form, a series of honest scenes that we can both empathise with and learn from. Take, for example, The Last Five Years and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. A Bowl of Cherries follows this trend with aplomb and is a great night’s entertainment. The eponymous bowl hangs centre stage at the opening, and it seems that stories are plucked from it as the show progresses through a series of sung and spoken episodes. Highlights include ‘The Playground’, a rib-tickling parody of youth culture with inventive use of props. ‘Faking It’ initially strikes a chord with a situation that many viewers will find familiar, but eventually shocks the audience with a humorous twist. The Christmas segment will ring jingle bells with your experiences of the pressure cooker that is a family Christmas, however, it is not all comedy; ‘The Beautiful Couple’ and ‘The Stuff of Dreams’ deal delicately with themes of lost love and unresolved anguish.

Gary Wilmot, a West End veteran and Clare Buckfield of Dancing on Ice fame head up the playbill, and while they give strong performances, it is really Julie Jupp who shines for me in this production. With her candid and matter-of-fact acting style, she carries many of the scenes and it is hard not to watch her. The relatively small cast of eight gel well together and each have something unique to contribute.

Aside from a slight lack of finesse around the edges due to its recent opening, A Bowl of Cherries is certainly worth the ticket price.

You can catch it at Charing Cross Theatre until 31st March, book here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Man, Mark McCloskey.