CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
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Romantics Anonymous, Bristol Old Vic
Tasty musical about chocolate and love from Wise Children
LOVE INTEREST: Carly Bawden (Angelique) and Marc Antolin (Jean Rene)
[Steve Tanner]
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EMMA RICE’S swansong as artistic director at London’s Globe Theatre was this show and it’s been resurrected by her new company Wise Children at Bristol Old Vic before touring the US.
Based on French film Les Emotifs Anonymes, Romantics Anonymous follows the painfully shy chocolate savant Angelique, who finds love and fulfilment with Jean-Rene, the socially paralysed owner of a failing chocolate factory.
The production has many of Rice’s trademark touches. Never rushed and predominantly gentle, the show unfolds with a clarity and simplicity that has real charm and style as the Breton-shirted, beret-wearing chorus generate a humorous Parisian appeal.
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