By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Thursday 14 September 2023 RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

Roger gives a five-star performance of a three-star play in which she is the uncanny embodiment of the French singer who performed in cabaret and chanson styles and was the country’s most popular singer in the 1940s.

• Read on for reasons including how we joined the enthusiastic standing ovation for this performance and production

Piaf was renowned as a false narrator of her life and perhaps that is why she is seen through the eyes of her many male lovers here when perhaps a more fitting tribute would have been allowing her to tell her story herself.

PIAF is a play with music written by Pam Gems in the form of many vignettes interspered with many of the chanteuse’s best known songs and does not shy away from the self-destructive, promiscuous, alcohol and drug-addicted elements of the ‘little sparrow’s’ story.

The original production starred Jane Lapotaire, an actress your author interviewed in the 80s as a local paper reporter, premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Stratford-upon-Avon home, moving to the Donmar and onto Broadway with its star winning a Tony.

A 2nd revival began at the Donmar and had Argentinian actress Roger in the title role and she won the 2009 Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical.

Its director was Jamie Lloyd (The Effect, National Theatre), whose production of Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger opens at the Savoy tonight, and the wit and invention which characterises his work is much in evidence here.

The visuals include many spotlights for which chanson singers were renowned, microphones in shadow but much is also made of a supporting cast in multiple roles with minimal scenery with the action played out against a bare brick wall of the falling down venue with a faded PIAF logo upon it to remind us of how vital its star once was.

Roger recreated the role in Spain and in Argentina where we join her in the faded glamour of the city’s Teatro Liceo which boasts cabaret seating and lamps on tables that would not have been out of place more than half a century ago and, although perhaps we were imagining it, the distinct smell of mildew.

Roger displays an extraordinary physicality, ageing decades in moments in front of our eyes as her addictions to alcohol and drugs effect the body we see with minimal make up and quick costume changes.

PIAF‘s reputation for embellishing her own backstory perhaps contributes to the stuttering nature of the narrative which is far from linear and sees even Marlene Dietrich popping up on multiple occasions to counterpoint how difficult it was for a talented woman to survive in a world dominated and run by men.

Roger’s international break came when she was scouted in Argentina by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s London team to lead a new 00s production of musical Evita and it’s her strong take on PIAF’s ability to both belt and convey sensitive emotion that is the main reason to see her perform this role for which she has become most renowned.

We joined the enthusiastic standing ovation for this performance and production which is elevated by its star to a perch it is perhaps not quite worthy of.

This was our 2nd trip to an Argentinian theatre and once again there were no refreshments or interval and the prices were equivalent to UK cinema tickets but Roger was definitely worth the trip

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy PIAF Tickets
• Have you seen PIAF or its star Elena Roger in a show? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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