Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.It all starts out so well. Marcia Jeffries, radio presenter on an early-morning show in Arkansas and one of the lead characters in this Elvis Costello-Sarah Ruhl musical based on the satirical 1957 film by Elia Kazan, is determined to hold her own in the sexist media environment of 1950s America. She has the smart hunch that getting “real people” on to the airwaves will boost ratings. So when she visits the local jail to get the voices of prisoners and runs into drunken drifter Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, she seems to have hit gold.Lonesome proves a natural with his gift of the gab, rapport with the listeners and easy way with a guitar. Soon he’s a regular on the show, where he catches the attention of a TV station — and of a wannabe presidential candidate looking for celebrity endorsement. As Lonesome becomes drunk on his own popularity as well as steeped in booze, deranged and extreme in his statements, Marcia realises she has unleased something dangerous.It’s clearly a story for our times, outlining the queasy mix of populism and politics that is causing such damage across the globe. A timely show, then, for the Young Vic’s outgoing artistic director, Kwame Kwei-Armah, to stage as his final production. It’s led by Anoushka Lucas as Marcia and Ramin Karimloo as Lonesome, both of whom bring immense charisma and superb voices to their roles. With Kwei-Armah’s playful staging, Anna Fleischle’s deliberately kitsch design and Costello’s enjoyable pastiches of 1950s music styles, it’s initially fun.Costello relishes creating the cutesy little ditties for detergent commercials, the smoky jazz that heralds a visit to New York and some good ol’ country and western for Lonesome. There are a couple of standout numbers: Lucas delivers “No Man’s Woman” with soaring soul, and Karimloo blazes out the titular song.But, like Marcia, the whole thing runs into trouble once things start to turn more serious. The satire feels too broad — political points are bluntly made, the parallels with now too obviously drawn — and the tone wavers and wanders. Many of the characters feel undernourished, particularly Mel, a studio writer and old flame of Marcia’s (despite a gently appealing performance from Olly Dobson), and Betty Lou (Emily Florence), the teenager who briefly marries Lonesome. Given the fevered state of politics right now, particularly in the US, this should really hit home: sadly, it misses the mark.★★★☆☆To November 9, youngvic.org
