Maytide's It Is Well with My Soul: The Musical
Maytide Theatre Company
TICKETS: Maytide's It Is Well with My Soul | Adelaide Fringe
This new and original Musical takes its inspiration from the well-known hymn “It Is Well With My Soul”, written by the American lawyer and Presbyterian church elder, Horatio Spafford and set to music by Philip Bess in 1876. Andrew Broadbent and Ally Gum have adapted the recent novella of the same name by David Maegraith, combining this story with original music arranged by Alana Lymn. The resulting performance draws from the lives of Horatio and Anna Spafford, and reflects the grief, hope, hardships, resilience and spiritual transformations that engulf their lives following the Great Chicago Fire and the loss of their four daughters in the S.S. Ville du Havre shipwreck.
Founded in 2025, Maytide Theatre Company is a relative
newcomer to the local theatre landscape, but its creative team possesses a
combined wealth of theatrical knowledge and experience. Their mission to build
a passionate and inclusive community that focuses on theatrical methods of
storytelling and emotional connections with their audiences is evident in this,
their first production.
The simple, but extremely flexible set worked well, having the effect of making the smaller stage appear much larger. The use of alternating crates to herald the flow of time throughout the performance was unobtrusive and effective. Playing emotive and/or uplifting music, both covered the efficient scene changes and allowed a seamless lead into the next scene.
The Costume coordinators, Tammie Collins and Jules Moylan, assisted the audience to quickly associate with the multiple nationalities and locations involved throughout the story, whilst also contrasting costumes well to portray the purity and angelic nature of the children during later scenes in their white costumes. Likewise, MD and Accent Coach Alana Lymn, should be proud of her actors’ ability to use at times multiple accents across their roles to create a greater depth to their characters.
A last-minute change to the cast had the potential to derail the flow of the performance, but the cast rallied staunchly around the strong performances of their leads and in the words of the Captain they were “not broken, but remade”.
Zachary Baseby was strong in the role of Horatio Spafford, bringing a depth of both vocal and physical techniques to bear as he delivered an emotional performance.
Being thrust into any role at short notice is never an easy task and Lizzie Zeuner made this look easy as she slipped into the role of Anna Spafford. Her portrayal of the changing emotional states and wavering faith of Anna during the many challenges she faced, was both convincing and realistic.
The Spafford daughters were ably played by Chloe Bradshaw (Maggie), Sophie Branston (Bessie), Livvy Czar (Bertha), Olivia Ye (Grace) and Paige Maggs (Annie). The confidence and performance of Paige in particular belied her years, as she provided an emotional mirror for the wavering faith of the leads.
Both Brandon Calmiano (Dwight) and Aiden Fitzgerald (Joseph) provided strong supporting characters. Whilst Brad Lowe brought a sense of calm and dignity to the softly spoken Captain.
The enthusiasm of the entire cast, including the ensemble was most evident in the joy radiating on their faces as they filled the stage in support of the named characters. At times this enthusiasm was misplaced, such as smiling during the shipwreck scene, but in general it added positively in creating a realism and warmth within the character interactions.
There were several technical issues throughout the show, but as this was their first night in the new theatre one can excuse a few glitches here and there. It may have been a result of these issues but at times the voices of the ensemble were not in sync. These stood out, as at other times the same performers produced quite melodic harmonies together.
The inherent difficulties that arise with using a pre-recorded backing track were evident, but the cast overcame most of these quickly. A few interesting blocking choices also had some characters facing away from the audience during dialogue, but fortunately this didn’t detract too much from the scenes. Other dialogue was however lost at times, due to poor projection, rushed lines or possibly issues with the head mics.
The concept of creating an original performance piece,
let alone a musical, is indeed a daunting one. All of those involved with this
production from its inception to the stage should be commended for their
efforts and perseverance. The story is a powerful one and if you haven’t been
acquainted with it before you should do yourself a favour and grab a ticket (or
two) for one of their remaining performances.
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