We Don’t Need Another Hero. Maybe not, though a strong, successful, empowered female role model never goes amiss. But is Tina Turner that star?
Many of us, by now, have a rough idea about the life of the strutting R&B singer who was, to borrow the title of her most famous song, The Best. The Oscar-nominated film What’s Love Got To Do With It did a decent job of educating the world about the abusive relationship with Ike Turner – though with a little artistic licence – from which the soulful star finally escaped.
Soul Sister tells that same story, joining Turner as a timid teenager when her name was still Anna Mae Bullock and following her to the peak of her 80s stardom, slotting in her biggest hits along the way.
Co-directors Peter Brooks and Bob Eaton have given the production a documentary styling, Tina’s talking head appearing projected onto the set, commenting on her troubled life. But despite the beating, the control and the infidelity, this floating figure refuses to condemn her husband. If you’re looking for a poster child for feminism, you won’t find it here.
But that, I suppose, is not the point. You can’t change facts for the sake of gender politics, and if Turner felt this way about her former lover looking back after years of torment, who am I to say she should feel any different.?
It does make it a touch harder to empathise with Emi Wokoma’s Tina each time she refuses to retrospectively condemn Chris Tummings’ Ike. Far from being the panto villain of the piece, though he begins as a driven musician, burning with desire for success before, when that dream becomes a reality, descending into the depths of drug abuse and domestic violence.
When, midway through the second half, the show lets the story drift away and becomes a tribute concert, the production’s priorities become clear. This is less about the tale, more about the music.
And why not? Private Dancer, River Deep Mountain High, Proud Mary, What’s Love Gotta Do With It; they’re all terrific songs and Wokoma performs them with precisely the right ticks, stomps, flicks and gurns that make Tina Turner unmistakable.
She’s got arguably the coolest band in the West End supporting her too, so why not focus on the music. That’s what the opening night crowd seemed to want anyway.
Jason Pennycooke, who will be performing in Kiss Me Kate at the Old Vic later this year, has created flailing era-centric choreography for the energetic Wokoma and her quartet of supporting dancers. When they are on stage, shaking their tail feathers with the band in full swing, the audience is at its most satisfied.