To pit yourself against Brecht and Weill, the masters of political music theatre, is a risky business. Dominic Muldowney rightly says that few composers are explicitly political in their work, and has been given the opportunity over three nights this week at Kings Place to show how it could be done.

The fusing of texts, music and politics sounds an ideal recipe for the informal space of Hall Two at Kings Place. But oddly it was put in Hall One and duly fell flat, though to be fair, this feebly devised and performed sequence would have flopped anywhere.

Muldowney’s settings of songs from The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (written in 1991) lack Brecht’s sharply satirical edge, coating them instead with easy-going, even sentimental lyricism.

The first half had offered Brecht settings by Weill and Eisler but they in turn were emasculated by the performers.

Given that they are principally actors, Daniel Evans, Jenny Galloway and Christopher Kelham are tolerable singers, but there was no crackle, no bite in their delivery.

Nor were their spoken texts any more convincing, though the staging, such as it was (credited to Di Trevis) — chairs in a straight line, no lighting plot — hardly gave them a chance.
Though billed as the London Sinfonietta, the show featured only two of its players, including the excellent saxophonist Simon Haram.

Still to come, today and tomorrow: a new piece by Muldowney, plus late-night takes on political issues of the day curated by the poet Graham Roos.
Information: www.kingsplace.co.uk