Treason the Musical at Alexandra Palace

Remember, remember the 5th of November….

Treasonis the new musical drama about the notorious gunpowder plot of 1605, set to completely blow you away with stunning original folk and pop songs, audiences will be engrossed by one of the most intriguing tales in Britain’s history as it’s never been seen before.

Treason explodes onto the stage this Autumn following an online concert streamed worldwide in 2021, two sold-out concerts at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2022, led by Carrie Hope Fletcher, and a live album released this year, which has taken Spotify by storm. You can now be the first to see the hotly anticipated full production of Treason created by Ricky Allan, as it embarks on its debut UK tour.

Having followed the development of Treason the Musical since its beginnings in 2020 I was excited to finally catch this show at Alexandra Palace.  Unfortunately, while I think this musical has some great potential, the writing sadly lets it down.

The story of Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night is something every child in England learns about in primary school, and it stays in our minds because of the drama and intrigue, which this show is sadly missing.  As the show continued I found myself asking, where is the hook?  And what exactly is the story trying to say?

It’s a show that is surprisingly quiet and slow to build.  The music doesn’t carry between the songs which are not memorable for the most part.  I struggled to connect with Thomas in any meaningful way and that made the tension which built later hard to get involved with.  The strangest choice, however, is the one to most dramatic parts of the story, the involvement of Guy Fawkes and the way he was discovered and then touched for trying to blow up the houses of parliament, to be skipped over so quickly it felt like if you blinked you would miss it.  It was never really explained why he joined or was so loyal to them in the after-events which could arguably be some of the more intriguing parts of this tale.

It’s not all negative however, the ambience caused by the set and lighting feels very fitting for the time period and the mood of the show.  All the performers were excellent with some fantastically strong vocals in the cast, and the scenes with the King and his advisor were by far the most engaging.  Similarly, the choice to make Guy Fawkes act as a narrator until his late arrival and then his quick switch to his arrival worked really well.

The ending speech has the potential to be really powerful if the story before it had echoed its sentiments in a more precise manner.  Overall that’s what this show is missing, a clearer voice and point of view to make this show really powerful.  Treason the Musical is on at Alexandra Palace until the 18th of November, tickets start from £22.

Tickets were gifted in exchange for a review, all words and opinions are my own