There is no denying that Lifeline, the new musical staged at Southwark Playhouse, has its heart in the right place.
Centred on the urgent, real-world crisis of antibiotic resistance, the production attempts to weave together the historic breakthrough of Alexander Fleming with a modern-day medical drama. It is a vital subject for the 2020s, yet as a piece of theatre, the result is a bitter pill to swallow.
Despite the vocals and the nobility of its intent, Lifeline suffers from an awkwardly constructed structure, a lack of subtlety in the scripting, and a long runtime that exhausts rather than inspires.
The musical attempts to balance two distinct timelines: the historical journey of Alexander Fleming and the contemporary struggle of Jess, a doctor grappling with her vocation while her childhood sweetheart, Aaron, faces a life-threatening infection after a cancer surgery.
The primary issue is the clunkiness of the exposition. In an effort to remain historically accurate to Fleming's life, including his marriage to the Greek scientist Amalia Voureka, the book by Becky Hope-Palmer becomes bogged down in facts. We are treated to flashbacks that add little to the central conflict and a romantic arc between Fleming and Amalia that feels glacial. It takes nearly the entire two-hour-and-45-minute runtime for Fleming to realise he is in love, a delay that drains the scenes of any genuine dramatic tension. The dialogue often feels like a lecture rather than a libretto.
The modern storyline fares little better. While Maz McGinlay brings a grounded intensity to the role of Jess, her relationship with Aaron feels signalled from the very start. The production leans too heavily on sentimental tropes, like the medical updates on a child with meningitis. Instead of heightening the emotional stakes, the repetition of these moments actually weakens the show's impact, making the message feel forced rather than earned.
By the end, the story arc feels flabby and over-extended. The show does not know where to focus, and loses the soul of its characters to a sea of predictable beats. If there is a saving grace, it is the cast. Alan Vicary possesses a rich voice, and Kelly Glyptis is equally impressive as Amalia. The vocal performances across the board are undeniably strong, and Robin Hiley's music is straightforwardly likeable. However, likeable is rarely enough to carry an almost three-hour show. The melodies are pleasant in the moment but fail to linger in the mind once you leave the theatre. They provide a sturdy frame, but the house inside is cluttered with too much stuff.
Lifeline is a production of high ambitions and even higher volume, but it lacks the narrative precision required to make its message stick. The urgency of antibiotic resistance is a story worth telling, but no antibiotics can save this musical.
It runs until 2 May.
Photos: Charlie Flint