Anyone Can Whistle

Sondheim has always been accused of trying to be clever, and he usually is, but here he's stuck in the goo, in a stew, dramaturgically-speaking. It's all very heavy-handed, emphasised by Littler's production, which seeks to draw the strongest possible parallels with what was starting to happen in Germany at the time of the depression-hit setting.

In a backwoods small-town, a corrupt bureaucracy invents a "miracle" to stave off bankruptcy. It is then whirled into confusion by an anarchist agitator who, posing as a doctor, jumbles up lunatics (quaintly referred to as Cookies from the Cookie Jar) and ordinary folk. Everything's topsy-turvy, people play symbols and symbols play symbols, leaving the audience as baffled as most of the characters.

Clarity of storytelling isn't a factor (although Littler worked on Trevor Nunn's crystalline A Little Night Music, little seems to have rubbed off in this respect). The pocket-sized stage fair bulges with frantic activity. It's a good rule for fringe companies with tiny budgets to cut the trappings and focus on the action. Art is much more interesting when abstract rather than when trying to be representational with insufficient means.

A talented bunch of actor-musicians work hard to put across Sondheim's dazzling lyrics and memorable tunes (the title song, "Everybody Says Don't" and "There Won't Be Trumpets" are all familiar from Side by Side by Sondheim and there's plenty else beside).

Sondheim completists may have to await the outcome of next month's off-Broadway series of concerts to see if, stripped down and musically-focused, Anyone Can Whistle is anything more than a collection of great songs.

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