On Tuesday I was lucky enough to go and see the brilliant ‘Identical’, which is based on an original story by Erich Kästner (Das Doppelte Lottchen/Lotte and Lisa) and has already been used as the basis for the films ‘The Parent Trap’.
Now the story has another outing as a delightfully entertaining musical written by the success story that is George Stiles & Anthony Drewe with some memorably catchy tunes alongside the emotive ‘You’re my sister’.
It is a much-told tale whereby two children are separated at birth and reunited by chance, and this time it’s not just siblings it’s twins and they meet at a summer camp ten years after they were born.
It must be a shock when somebody else has your face, so after an initial battle of wills they piece together the facts, and it becomes indisputable that the girls have something more in common than just being a Doppelgänger to the other.
They form a bond and agree they would both love to know the parents they have never known, for one child their Mother and the other their Father, so in time honoured fashion they agree to swap places. It is quite an emotional watch to see both of them fall in love with their new-found parent and that parent to be surprised and delighted by something a little different about their child after returning from summer camp.
The main Lisa/Lottie characters were played beautifully and touchingly by Kyla and Nicole Fox with the bond between them amazing to watch. With their beautiful voices and believable characters, it was hard to think of them as only being 12 years of age.
The rest of the ‘Young cast’ although small in number were brilliantly choreographed with superb timing in the group dance scenes and great fun to watch as Miss Ulrike tries to keep control of them.
With the adult cast no less brilliant, I am hard pressed to pick a favourite, but I thought Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson was a real talent as Miss Gerlach.
The set design could I suppose have been considered simple, but I know that is the trick behind a good set, which was very immersive with its changing digital screen as the backdrop.
With talented musicians to boot it was an absolute joy to watch and listen to and I do hope you manage to go and see this as it will definitely lift your spirits.
Identical is on at the Lowry until 3 September 2022.
