Get Up, Stand Up! review: ‘Powerful vocal work’

Words: Simon Button; picture: Arinzé Kene as Bob Marley, Shanay Holmes as Cindy Breakspeare (photos by Craig Sugden)

As reggae superstar Bob Marley in Get Up, Stand Up! Arinzé Kene is sensational. He doesn’t imitate Marley so much as embody his spirit and passion, with an astonishing singing voice and so much raw energy the theatre could run the sound system off him.

And what a sound system it is. Songs like ‘Exodus’ and ‘Could You Be Loved’ shake the Lyric Theatre with seat-rattling bass and powerful vocal work from a cast who give it their all and then some.

Set designer Chloe Lamford cleverly gives them a series of speakers to sing from and dance upon by way of scenery, costume designer Lisa Duncan outfits them in colourful clobber and as enthusiastically directed by Clint Dyer it’s a pacy, pulsating show that brings everyone to their feet for the obligatory dance-athon at the end.

It’s a shame, then, that Lee Hall’s book falls short. He doesn’t shy away from the father of 11’s imperfections and infidelities but he skirts over Marley’s childhood in Jamaica, tells us little about his remarkable success as a musician and opts not to dramatise his death from cancer at age 36 – presumably because doing so would nix the mini-concert that, like in the Tina Turner musical, provides a rousing climax.

But none of these flaws seem to matter whenever Kene is on stage. Whether he’s duetting with the sublime Gabrielle Brooks as his long-suffering wife on ‘Is This Love’ or singing up a storm on ‘Jamming’ he’s absolutely riveting.

You might come away from the show knowing little more about Marley than you could have picked up from reading his Wikipedia page. But you’ll have witnessed an incredible performer at the centre of a lively show as well as having been reminded of just how many brilliant songs Marley crafted in his too-short life.

3/5

Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical is at the Lyric Theatre, London. For great deals on tickets and shows click here.