Review of ‘Swag Age’: “Astounding cast brings honour to us all despite writing’s shortcomings”

London’s Gillian Lynne Theatre hosted the West End première of the popular Korean musical, in a semi-staged one-off concert performed in the piece’s original language. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show to let us know if its celebration of East Asian lore and poetry can turn audiences into sinjo-philes.

There’s a reason why many politicians throughout history haven’t been too fond of the arts. Art opens the mind. An open mind leads to free thought. Free thought encourages dissidence. And dissidence paves the way to insurrection — not the most ideal picture if you still want to hold dominion.

It’s the perfect scenario for a classic tale of downtrodden heroism: the traditional underdog that fights the corrupted system so he can return its power to the people. It’s an innately epic saga where all its elements come together with almost no effort. But that’s precisely what may have prevented the highly anticipated Korean show, which celebrated its West End premiere at the Gillian Lynne last Monday, from achieving its full potential.

Before any hardcore fans unwind their katanas, let me clarify that I do consider Swag Age an enjoyable piece of entertainment. Several of its key components speak in its favour. Jeong-Yeon Lee’s music is arguably one of its most prominent ones. Regaling us with earworm after earworm, his tingling mixture of 90s Western pop with a distinctive East Asian sound creates a lush, accessible score — which, though not overflowing with originality, still manages to compel its audience.

Yet, the appeal of his themes does not translate into the most polished execution. Although drafting an appropriate structure, most songs come across as a little underdeveloped. Many motifs aren’t explored in their full capacity, ignoring their chances for a longer and far more satisfactory stretch. As a result, the climactic feel we instinctively expect by the end of a number, alongside a defined sense of conclusiveness, is noticeably lacking. In some way, it’s like experiencing the cast album in reverse. Instead of having the full theatrical version onstage, we are given a cut-down form that hurries the recount while not allowing the tunes’ emotional journey to completely unroll.

There’s not much to critique about the lyrics, primarily because my knowledge of Korean could be easily reduced to half of the items in a Soho restaurant menu. But despite my admitted ineptitude with the language, Lee’s skillfulness in that department is evident — concocting adequate rhyming schemes that demonstrate both skillfulness and care towards the poetic side of the material.

The writing’s main problem stems from the overall hurried approach. Most of the characters are too sketchy, with a severe deficit of complexity and evolution in their arcs. Consequently, the handling of each subject feels shallow. The tunes express the motivations of an archetype, but they rarely depict an individual with their own unique traits.

At the same time, the book fails to smooth the transition between music and spoken dialogue — seemingly ignorant of the fact that, when it comes to musical theatre, every number should always be triggered by something transcendent enough to reject mere words to express it. From a narrative perspective, they all serve their purpose, but the absence of a stronger driver when the protagonists break into song makes them look slightly shoehorned.

Presented as a concert version, its simplified staging is, however, an absolute triumph of theatrical inventiveness. A black-box featuring a scarce array of props is all they need to transport viewers into the ancient land of old Korean lore. Its impeccable lighting takes over the task and carries it out with astounding prowess, building an absorbing and tremendously evocative atmosphere that smoothly drags us from one scene to another.

Yet, the highest praise is to be given to the entire cast, who admittedly mesmerized those who were not TFL’ed by the strikes with the most arresting renditions. Excellent vocals were accompanied by the most pristine and eye-popping dance segments. Simultaneously, their added stamina and solid acting consolidated one of the finest ensemble interpretations the West End has witnessed throughout the season.

Bringing a mythical melodrama to life through catchy melodies and lavish spectacle, Swag Age finds its spot in the London scene through an immaculate performance of a work that, though still requires a few extra tweaks, exudes enough robustness to justify its popularity on the other side of the world. Penned by obvious admirers of the genre, it’s just a matter of deepening their understanding of the craft so every aspect of the work can flourish. From then on, the true legend begins.

All pictures credit to PL Entertainment.

By Guillermo Nazara