Music: Jeanine Tesori
Book & Lyrics: Lisa Kron
Director: Sarah Frankom
Based on cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic memoir Fun Home, in which the author recalls and explores her early years growing up in small town Pennsylvania, this rather extraordinary musical is pretty hard to define. Even the Royal Exchange’s publicity seems to offer a somewhat vague picture of what to expect. What a delight, then, to come at it with very little knowledge of Bechdel’s work, and of this musical adaptation which premiered at the Public in New York in 2013.
Alison and her two brothers (Reuben Shepherd and Theo Wake) grow up in a funeral home which their father, Bruce (Nigel Harman), runs part time while also restoring antiques, doing up wrecked houses and holding down a full time job as a school teacher. It hardly seems possible that he has time for a secret life, but it turns out it’s a very active one.
When Alison goes off to college it doesn’t take her long to come out, or to realise that she’s known about her sexuality for a number of years. She doesn’t realise that taking her first girlfriend home for the holidays will stir up all of the repressed feelings and family secrets that have been hidden from her for years, not least by her mother (Jodie McNee) who’s long been aware of Bruce’s string of affairs with men.
Fun Home is a celebration of the freedom to be what you want to be, of a generational shift that has (mostly) done away with the feelings of shame and guilt that eventually leads to Bruce’s suicide, and to Alison being able to put down this tragi-comic story in graphic novel form. Sarah Frankcom’s production is brilliantly pitched – switching from heart-breaking to laugh out loud with ease. The kids’ mock commercial Come To The Fun Home mixes gallows humour with Jackson Five vibes and brings the house down. Three actors play the central role – Small Alison (Harriet O’Shea), Medium Alison (Alice Audrey O’Hanlon) and Alison Bechdel (Jodie McNee). They seamlessly switch from one to another as the story moves backwards and forwards in time, with the older Alison reliving the past through memories and embarrassing teenage diaries. McNee is the wiser Alison, comfortable with her 41-year old self. O’Hanlon is a young woman discovering life – and love – outside her small town, naïve, awkward and joyfully excited about it all. O’Shea delivers a stellar performance as Alison as a child, with an astonishing stage presence. Her rendition of Ring of Keys, a song about her first realisation that she can be ‘different’ after seeing a woman in a luncheonette is a real highlight of the night. When all three Alisons are on stage together at the end of the show, becoming the whole person, it’s electric.
Peter Butler’s design is simple and effective, especially the metalwork structure and lights that hang above, leaving the rotating stage relatively bare for the action. It avoids the overcomplicated staging and clutter that the Royal Exchange can sometimes adopt (because they can it doesn’t necessarily mean they should). In fact, it’s the overall simplicity of this musical that makes it so brilliant all round, and Sarah Frankcom’s seemingly light touch direction speaks of how well she knows this space (Fun Home is her 30thproduction for the Royal Exchange). All in all, it shows just what you can do with a small talented cast, a great script, and some catchy tunes. Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s songs are fantastically memorable, and belted out by the company and live band, perched on the first balcony, led by Yshani Perinpanayagam.
Fun Home is a beautifully crafted human story told unpretentiously. Hugely enjoyable and definitely worth catching during its month long run.
Runs until 1 August 2026
Reviews Hub Star Rating
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10
