It’s 1945, and we’re backstage in the dressing room of Nat King Cole at a New York club. He’s just finishing his set and getting changed when in walks a woman, Maria Ellington. Cole asks her out to dinner, which she refuses . It’s never explained why she suddenly appears, but there’s certainly plenty of explanation during the rest of Tim Connery’s play Unforgettable: The Nat King Cole Story.

Over the next eighty minutes or so, Cole (Kwame Bentil) addresses the audience and narrates the story of his life while interacting with Maria (Alicia Charles) as their relationship unfolds across the years. Locations and dates are projected onto the rear wall so we know exactly where and when we are. For most of the play, Cole addresses the audience directly, with Maria occasionally doing the same. Eventually Cole divorces his wife and marries Maria, who turns out to be something of a nag. Cole wants to be purely a jazz pianist, but Maria insists he should sing because that’s where the money is. Cole smokes constantly (you can see where this is heading), while Maria urges him to quit and live a healthier lifestyle. Coming from a wealthy, middle-class background, she not only uses words Cole doesn’t understand but also repeatedly corrects his grammar and scolds his bad language. Perhaps that explains his affairs?

We also learn about the couple’s struggles living in a wealthy white neighbourhood in California, where a burning cross is left on their lawn; Cole’s difficulties performing with white musicians in the Deep South, culminating in his assault on stage in Birmingham, Alabama while appearing with The Ted Heath Band; and, inevitably, his run-ins with the taxman.

The play’s biggest problem is that so much of it is told rather than shown. There’s an awful lot of explanation and exposition as the pair recount events instead of letting us experience them. Whenever they actually interact, things become far more engaging and there are some genuinely funny lines, but there’s precious little drama or tension –  it’s a play, not a TED Talk. Even when Maria confronts Cole over one of his affairs, the scene barely simmers when it ought to be boiling over. The production itself feels oddly disjointed too, with scenes drifting into one another without much momentum. The couple occasionally wander off stage for no apparent reason, although Charles at least gets a series of costume changes while Bentil mostly alternates between his suit and a dressing gown.

Both Bentil and Charles give fine performances. Bentil neither looks nor particularly speaks like Cole, but he sings magnificently, making it something of a disappointment that we hear only “Nature Boy” and “Unforgettable”. A few more songs would have injected the production with some of the energy it often lacks.

There’s undoubtedly an interesting play waiting to be written about the short but remarkable life of Nat King Cole, I’m just not convinced Unforgettable is it and despite its title, it’s unlikely to linger in my memory for very long.

Three Stars

Reviewed by Alan Fitter.

https://thebridgehousetheatre.co.uk/