Quadrophenia

Every now and again, an album of epic proportions comes along and changes the way we see things. For many, Quadrophenia, the 1973 The Who album, did just that, and still holds great meaning for generations of fans. Not only was the album made into a film in 1979, it is now, finally, nearing its stage debut, a spectacle which has been almost 16 years in the pipeline with music, lyrics and concept originally by Pete Townshend adapted for the stage by Jeff Young, John O’Hara and Tom Critchley. Boasting a nine piece band who Young admits “play the music to perfection”, and four young actors portraying the different emotional elements of our protagonist, Jimmy – Ryan O’Donnell, Jack Roth, George Maguire and Rob Kendrick alongside Syndey Rae playing ‘The Girl’. Young, as writer, along with the adaptation team has steered clear of the film version of Quadrophenia, instead bringing their own connection with the album to the stage hoping that new and old audiences will “have their hearts and minds moved and blown away by some of the most beautiful and exhilarating rock music of our times”. They wanted to retain a sense of originality, and say “This is what we have drawn from this music and we want you to be part of that”, using the album, the album sleeve, photographs and Townshend’s story itself as their inspiration. As a story which “runs deep”, this Rock Opera looks set to be as epic as the album itself. [Clare Sinclair]