People are always saying that you shouldn’t care about what folk think of you and as a general statement it certainly has merits, to develop esteem and individuality without closeting yourself up in a status-quo box and becoming addicted to fashion magazines but, if we’re honest, everyone cares and maybe we should.  Whistle Down the Wind by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Jim Steinman (as unmistakable in style as Meat Loaf himself) basically hinges on the crux of self-analysis through others’ eyes.  And really, isn’t our conscience and morality dictated by such perceptions? 

It is both a beautiful and harrowing story of the innocence and naivety of childhood.  Swallow and her younger brother and sister have just recently lost their mother and though their father does his best, there is still a distance and isolation between them especially since it’s set in the deep south during the time of evangelist redemption rackets, hay farming and gender separation.  It is a tale of evolution from girl to woman as Swallow is frankly dangerous idealistic and sheltered at the start of the show and suddenly is paired up with a man who has fought and survived the worst and darkness nature’s of the world and the soul.

Enter ‘the man’ who the audience know is an escaped convict that the whole countryside is eager to apprehend but with an almost vigilante justice in mind.  The idea of someone so ‘evil’ having any influence in their town spurs a witch hunt and blood lust in the community, not releasing their own lives and judgements are indelibly flawed.  The man hides out in Swallow’s barn and when the children encounter him he jumps, jittery and apprehensive of discovery and responds with the curse ‘Jesus Christ’ when they appear and ask who he is.  However, the kids take him at his word and are filled with such pure hope that this man can revitalise and save their town and return happiness to their lives.

Repeatedly Swallow begs him to bring back her mother and he plays the part in order to remain concealed and manipulate them into helping him, bringing him food and even going to collect his gun.  The faith and wonder of the children and the goodness that they see in him, without hesitation or reciprocation, spur a revelation of the man, of he could be, so loved and trusted.  In many ways it is deeply wrong as this man who has taken a life, though only out of self-preservation, and who is so much older and from a rough, underprivileged life, sits in the middle of all the village children and shares in their stories and song but that’s what makes the scenes so poignant.  The juxtaposition of these characters is so surreal and yet the man needs the children and the children desperate need ‘the idea’ of the man. 

Being shown this mercy and compassion for possibly the first time in his life leads the man to become more like what they believe him to be and he doesn’t take advantage in a crude or sexual way, although he is but a man and not divine, because Swallow’s esteem in him is more important than its weight in gold.  Even in the end when the villagers march with torch, rod and gun, Swallow refuses to be swayed in her convictions and you get the impression that her reality becomes his as he literally asks ‘What would Jesus do?’

The first time I saw this show I admit that I wasn’t exactly blown away but this was due to the disconcerting fact that when a narrative is told in song you can never hear and understand everything.  On my second viewing the songs had ‘grown’ on me and I knew every lyric and wow, are those lyrics powerful and evocative and I understood so many more layers of the personalities represented.

This is a period piece based on the old film of the same name and has a very provincial and religious brethren aura that would be mocked by many in contempory society but it’s the united front of the community where everyone knows and helps their neighbour that binds this small town story and explains the handling of the situations and the need to be and see more of the world.  Being too cut off, ‘holier than thou’ and handling matters like mafia family only leads to a strange power balance and desperation.

It is a dual between adulthood and infancy and though in most circumstances the adult instinct to air on caution is advised, the childish fantasy and purity casts a bright light over what is lost in that transition of years. 

The musical score is fantastic with solid rock, hard bass beats that are epic and expertly composed to produce some amazing ensemble scenes, melodies fitting together like pieces in a jig-saw.  Throughout the atmosphere and foreboding feeling of the action is strikingly dark as if this way of life and this community is on the brink of collapse and clinging onto religion as the only acceptable hope as they self-destruct through social understanding and their own dens of iniquity, guilt, shame and depression.  The music is ominous and almost hellish, demented and depraved at points and stands so starkly against the almost absurdist natural wonder and reverie of the children which make them seem almost ‘Stepford’ or ‘Children of the Corn’ but to the other extreme.  There are moments which tickle the senses as being on the edge of disturbing and therefore the story is very well handled, the director succeeding in his job.

Please don’t be put off by the fact that Boyzone covered one of the best known songs, ‘No Matter What’, I promise you that it works in context, and in fact it’s a real Kleenex moment in the ascension of the man.  Meat Loaf has, of course, also covered arguably the best track ‘Tyre Tracks and A Kiss is a Terrible Thing to Waste’ but surprisingly the actors achieve an even greater climax of emotion in these pieces.  The opening track is also very famous, ‘The Keys to the Vaults of Heaven’.

It is a family rating but doesn’t have the brilliant colours and spectacle of other musicals and the deeper meaning will be lost on youngsters also there is definitely a raw sexuality about it, I think primarily because of the deliberate absence of sexuality for the most part.  It is actual highlighted more and the dirty drum beat and rocky accompaniment, pulse through the sole and heart.  Also there is not much in the way of choreography in this production with the focus on simplicity and small town values, less action and more heart.  It is clear that it started as a drama genre film.

All in all, this is a powerful piece of stage history but I would recommend familiarising yourself with the lyrics and story before attending.