The Color Purple At The Lowry, Salford Review

Reviewed by Kathryn Harrison

Last night a friend and I visited The Lowry Theatre in Salford for the opening night of The Color Purple, The Musical. It was amazing, I was absolutely blown away! The show had everything you could possibly want from a musical, a great storyline, moments of joy, moments of sadness, drama, comedy and above all else phenomenal music and singers!

Many will know the story of The Color Purple, whether from the Pulitzer Prize winning Novel released in 1982 or the 1985 Steven Spielberg film. However I’ve never read the book or the film so only had a very basic idea of the plot before entering the theatre last night. For anyone else like me, The Color Purple tells the story of Celie. A young, poor, black girl being raised in Tennessee at the beginning of the 20th Century. Celie’s life is a hard one, encompassed by violence and a lack of autonomy. Throughout the musical we see Celie grow from a young teenage to a middle aged woman and all the twists in her story along the way.

There are multiple traumatic incidents in Celie’s life, times where everyone feels hopeless and as an audience member I was moved to tears on more than one occasion but there’s also moments of hope and joy and friendship. With the telling of such a brutal and violent story this could be quite an arduous show to sit through but through the power of the music and the many moments of comedy and humour in the play it wasn’t hard to watch at all.

The cast were superb, individually and collectively they transported you into this world and made you feel part of the story. From the audience reaction it was clear to see I wasn’t alone in rooting for Celie and being completely invested in her life. I appreciated the way the women in the show all had different characters, they all were very different but each of them felt true and valid. Every single member of the cast made you sit up and listen each time they opened their mouths and sang, whether it was the more poignant songs such as I’m Here and What About Love to the more upbeat fun songs like Brown Betty and Celie’s Pants every song was phenomenal! I could have listened to them sing all night long in particular Anelisa Lamola who played Sofia, her voice was amazing and the song Hell No was my favourite of the entire show.

Another element of this musical I enjoyed was the set design. At first glance it could seem quite simplistic but it was that simplicity that meant with light changes and elements being added or removed effectively set the tone for each scene.

I would definitely recommend this musical to anyone and everyone whether you’re familiar with the story or not. If you do go to watch it you’re in for an absolute treat.

Rating: 5/5
Tickets cost from £15 plus £2 transaction fee
The Color Purple is at The Lowry Salford from 11th October to 15th October, for more information or to book tickets visit thelowry.com or call the box office on 03432086000

The Lowry Theatre
Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ