Posted: Monday 21st April 2008

Set during the Civil War of the 1860’s, Gone With The Wind follows the story of Scarlett O’Hara (Jill Paice). Beginning at the O’Hara plantation in Georgia, Tara, Scarlett is on the hunt for a suitor and secretly pining for Ashley Wilkes (Edward Baker-Duly), a man who is due to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton (Madeleine Worrall). After realising that she is never going to be with Ashley, Scarlett decides to marry Charles Hamilton (David Roberts) shortly before he leaves to fight in the war. Before her marriage Scarlett meets the mysterious and unpredictable Rhett Butler (Darius Danesh) and finds her life doesn’t follow the smooth path that she had hoped for. Torn between men and family drama, Scarlett’s life is about to change forever.

Gone With The Wind is considered a classic movie and it’s not one we ever expected to see transferred to the West End. Directed by Trevor Nunn, this new musical version transfers the essence of the movie to the stage and gives the audience value for money with its 3 and a half hour running time. Recreated on a round stage with the audience sat in semi-circles around it, Gone With The Wind is a touching, exciting and emotional piece of theatre.

Many were sceptical when Darius Danesh was cast as Rhett Butler. His reality TV pedigree may put some people off seeing this show but they’d be missing out. Danesh is both charismatic and talented and he wipes the floor with the rest of the cast. His southern accent is superb and his singing voice stronger and richer than showcased on either of his solo albums. Danesh is a bright star and he captivates on stage, making the character of Rhett Butler his own.

Gone With The Wind has a huge cast and at times the stage is simply bustling with cast members. As a whole the cast work impressively well together with Jina Burrows (Prissy) and Natasha Yvette Williams (Mammy) standing out from the rest. Burrows may be a small woman but she has an incredible voice. As one of the O’Hara family servants, Prissy gets a few moments to shine and Burrows has the crowd whooping and cheering with her triumphant solo song. Williams as Mammy is both funny and entertaining. As the key servant to the O’Hara family the audience feel for her and like Burrows she has an incredible singing voice.

Sadly the weakest link is Jill Paice as Scarlett O’Hara. Maybe she hasn’t settled into the character yet but her accent was all over the place. Sometimes she sounded Southern but a lot of the time her accent struggled to sound anything other than English. This became off-putting and with the show being so long it broke our concentration on several occasions. Singing wise, Paice was spot on and she had chemistry with Danesh that had us believing the romance between the two.

Gone With The Wind is an enjoyable play but it does suffer from a few faults. Despite being 3 and a half hours the show feels a bit rush in the final half hour. The inclusion of original songs in the mix actually works and Gone With The Wind is a triumphant production. Some may find the pace a bit slow but we enjoyed kicking back and watching a good old-fashioned drama unfold before our eyes. The true star here is Darius and his fans will be glad to see him back on top again. If you’re after a show with impressive special effects and an affecting story then this is the one for you.