Review: Lizzie at Hope Mill Theatre is ‘a powerful rock musical exploring a notorious killer character’

Picture this: you are 32 and unmarried, which, for a woman in 1892, is the same as being dead.

Your life is confined to the house you hate and the sister you love. Together you try to survive your abusive father and a stepmother who is determined to take what is rightfully yours.

You are a lit match, a barrel of gunpowder, a bomb about to go off. Your name is Lizzie Borden and this is your story.

Lizzie at Hope Mill Theatre

You may believe that you know the full story behind Lizzie Borden and the grisly murders she committed, but this award-winning musical is determined to prove you wrong!

As the name suggests, Lizzie the Musical follows the now-notorious Lizzie Borden. It offers a compassionate and sometimes surreal backstory, that goes beyond the sensational headlines and playground rhymes.

Lizzie never tries to excuse or explain away Borden’s actions, but allows her to revel in them, feel no remorse and take no prisoners. Lizzie provides a fresh and feminist perspective on the life Lizzie Borden lived and all she endured.

It recontextualises it for a modern audience; paying particular attention to the relationships Lizzie had with the women in her life.

Lizzie’s greatest strength is far and away its excellent, all-female cast. They work together like a well-oiled machine, hitting every beat as one with impressive synchronicity.

Their harmonies and high notes will stay with you longer than any axe wound and will make you wonder if you’ve ever heard anyone actually sing before!

Kayleigh McKnight’s excellent performance as Lizzie

As the eponymous Lizzie, Kayleigh McKnight is excellent. Her portrayal of Lizzie is equal parts raw nerves and a sense of palpable yearning. McKnight has an amazing stage presence and embodies the role completely.

She is a compelling protagonist and a worthy front-woman.

Kayleigh transitions between rage, despair and heartbreaking longing effortlessly. Her energy never wanes and she is as at home on stage in the peace of the hayloft as much as she is wielding an axe.

Emilie Louise Israel is Lizzie’s older sister, Emma.  She is headstrong and fiercely protective of Lizzie and the life they share.

Emilie Louise Israel gives an extremely strong performance, and it is easy to believe that the sisters will do whatever it takes to survive as both actors have great chemistry with each other.

Emilie’s portrayal makes it clear that though she loves Lizzie dearly, the responsibility of being the eldest daughter is weighing on her heavily.

“An emotive and complex character”

Her portrayal is emotive and complex and makes it easy to see why Lizzie idolised Emma as much as she did.

Katie Tonkinson plays Alice, Lizzie’s closest friend and neighbour. She is sweet and naive, resigned to a life of watching Lizzie from the sidelines and helping her where she can.

Despite Alice being a gentle character, Katie’s performance stands up against the more intense roles and provides much-needed calm among the chaos.

Jennifer Caldwell plays the role of Bridget O’Sullivan, the Borden’s maid of some years.

While also being a very skilled dramatic performer, Jennifer provides much of the comic relief found in Lizzie.

She is able to be both funny and foreboding at the same time and is among one of the more memorable characters.

From the moment Lizzie starts, the pace is breakneck. Momentum builds and builds for the whole first act.

The story is so infamous by now that the audience knows where it’s headed- but like a car crash, you just can’t look away.

While this makes for an exciting and action packed hour and forty minutes, I feel that more time could have been taken on establishing some historical context to help the audience understand just what Lizzie and her sister Emma were going through.

This would also help any audience members who know nothing about Lizzie Borden keep up with the story.

A rock musical

Lizzie is first and foremost, a rock musical, though it pulls from the worlds of pop and punk as well.

The mix of heavier, guitar-driven anthems with softer, more melodic refrains, puts one in mind of an early 2000’s off Broadway show, like Spring Awakening or Hedwig and The Angry Inch.

Lizzie’s lyrics (written by Steven Cheslik- Demeyer, Tim Maner and Alan Stevens Hewitt) are metaphor laden and beautiful.

Expressing the character’s most secret desires all while establishing the key facts of the story.

The sheer number of songs and the frequency at which they occur, does sometimes make Lizzie feel like a staged concert, rather than a fully fledged musical.

Though the songs all feel necessary, I can’t help but wish there were a few scenes in between the songs to really flesh out the characters and their relationships.

The live band are also fantastic, adding power to the music.

They consist of Ella Ingram, who is the musical director and on the keys, Dejante Hinks, Jennifer Morgan on bass guitar and Rebekah Slater on drums.

The way Lizzie utilises projections (designed by Dan Light) throughout the show is one of the most unique and memorable elements.

It adds to the show’s distinctive visual style and provides some texture to the otherwise plain stage.

The lighting (designed by Andrew Exeter) helps to further flesh out the world of Lizzie the musical. Whether it be a single spotlight that represents Lizzie’s suffocating isolation or the deep red glow of her vengeful bloodlust, the lighting works in tandem with each scene and adds another layer for the audience.

One of the best and most fun elements of Lizzie is the playful anachronistic costumes, designed by Rachel Tansey.

For the most part, they are vaguely historical, with the exception of bedazzled holsters for microphones, fish net tights and huge goth platform boots.

The contrast between the two eras provides a  camp sense of fun that is in keeping with the overall feel of the show.

A simple but chilling set design

Chilling in its simplicity, Andrew Exeter’s set design roots the audience firmly in the time period. The stage is made to resemble Lizzie’s beloved barn.

With hay lining the perimeter of the stage and pigeon figurines nesting together at the corners, the set is very immersive because every element is so deliberate.

One of the most unique and effective details is the plastic strip curtain that leads off stage, evoking the clinical carnage of a slaughter house.

With Choreography by director William  Whelton, Lizzie has a clean, original style that is reminiscent of a mosh pit, a girl group and an Avant-garde dance routine.

The choreography suits the music and the story well and feels  different than anything on stage currently.

For far too long, female characters have had to fit into archetypal boxes in order to be on stage.

They are the mother, the girl next door, the femme fatale or the spinster, with little room for overlap or deviation.

Lizzie embraces the nuance and complexities of one of history’s most sensationalised figures and gives her the space to exist, not only as she was but how she might have been.

It allows her to be not a hero or a villain but simply a person.

Tickets for Lizzie at The Hope Mill Theatre

Lizzie is at the Hope Mill Theatre until 17th November 2024.

Tickets are available by clicking here